The paper discusses the current state of municipal waste management in Poland compared to other European Union countries. It indicates the amounts of municipal waste generated over the last few years in Poland and other EU countries. The paper compares waste treatment methods in Poland and Europe, such as recycling, composting, thermal treatment and waste disposal. An analysis of municipal waste processing installations in Poland is presented. The trends in the municipal waste management system in recent years have also been described. In the field of municipal waste management in Poland, there have been significant changes. The amount of waste sent to landfills has decreased, and the amount of waste recovered and recycled has increased. These changes are positive and reflect the development of municipal waste management systems in other EU countries. The article indicates the problems and directions of changes in the field of municipal waste management in Poland in the coming years, especially in the context of the implementation of circular economy assumptions and the goals set by the European Union in terms of increase the level of waste recycling and reducing their disposal.

Przedmiotem podjętych badań były gleby leśne wykształcone na osadach dolnego triasu (Bundsandstein) w północno-zachodniej części Gór Świętokrzyskich w obrębie Suchedniowsko-Oblęgorskiego Parku Krajobrazowego. Celem badań było ocena wartości siedliskotwórczej gleb wytworzonych z dwóch typów skał osadowych – piaskowców (SFS) oraz iłowców i mułowów (SFCM) w zbliżonych warunkach geomorfologicznych. Stwierdzono, że badane gleby cechują się charakterystyczną znaczną specyfiką właściwości fizykochemicznych uwarunkowaną rodzajem skał podłoża. Przekłada się to na ich zróżnicowane właściwości siedliskotwórcze. Wyznaczone wartości indeksu SIG wskazują na mezotroficzny charakter gleb rozwiniętych na piaskowcach (SFS) oraz eutroficzny w przypadku gleb rozwiniętych na iłowcach i mułowcach (SFCM).

Afforestation of former agricultural land is widely promoted as a strategy to mitigate climate change and support sustainable land management. However, soils subjected to long-term cultivation often retain chemical legacies that may persist for decades after land-use change, influencing soil functioning and ecosystem development. This study investigates the persistence of selected agricultural soil chemical properties following afforestation using a chronosequence approach. Post-agricultural soils afforested for 15, 40, and 80 years were examined on Dystric Brunic Arenosols developed from sandy parent material. Composite samples were collected from forest-floor horizons (Ol and Ofh) and upper mineral horizons (A and B). The analyzed parameters included organic carbon (Corg), total nitrogen (Nt), sulfur (S), soil pH, hydrolytic acidity (Ha), exchangeable base cations (EBC), and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The results show that agricultural soil legacies persist for several decades after afforestation. Soils under the 15-year-old stand were characterized by higher exchangeable calcium, higher base saturation, and lower hydrolytic acidity, reflecting the persistence of historical liming. With increasing stand age, soil acidity increased, and base-cation concentrations declined, while organic carbon accumulated mainly in forest-floor horizons. These findings highlight the importance of considering agricultural soil legacies when evaluating the sustainability of afforestation and its role in long-term ecosystem services.

In less than a century, plastics have gained enormous popularity and it is now difficult for us to imagine our lives without them. They are very widely used in industry, agriculture, medicine and many others, mainly due to their stability and low production costs - which contribute to a steady increase in demand worldwide. They biodegrade very slowly, and the limited and inappropriate recovery of this raw material from waste has led to a visible accumulation of residual polymers in the environment. As a result of physical, chemical and biological processes, e.g., ultraviolet (UV) radiation, weathering or mechanical abrasion, plastics degrade to fine particles - those less than 5 mm in size are called microplastics. They can be found in the natural environment in various morphological forms, e.g., as fibres, granules, scraps, spheres, particles or fragments, e.g., film, of primary or secondary origin. The presence of microplastics has been found all over the world, in all environments. Only recently has there been a broader focus on microplastics, which includes terrestrial systems where soils are an important part of the environment potentially exposed to contamination. Their main source in soils may be within agriculture (where composts, organic fertilizers, sewage sludge and mulching, as well as irrigation are used) plus transport, landfills and the deposition of atmospheric pollutants.