The current EU energy policy aims to diversify energy sources to ensure energy security while decarbonising the economy and promoting low carbon and clean energy technologies. These tasks are carried out under the European Green Deal Program. Therefore, the overriding goal at present is to search for new sources of energy, including energy recovery from waste. In EU countries, the legal system for waste management is adapted to the circular economy. In Poland, due to the legal possibility of temporary storage and disposal of waste, a substantial volume of industrial waste is temporarily stored and landfilled (above 40%), compared to the importance of waste subjected to treatment. Moreover, energy recovery from waste accounts for a negligible share (below 5%). It may be due to the high costs of these processes, stringent emissions and environmental quality standards. Therefore, as in certain EU countries, the problem of landfill site arson attacks has been exacerbated in Poland (177 fires in 2019). The aim of this article is to determine the relationship between the application of the existing regulations concerning closed-loop waste management and the effectiveness of methods, ways and economic instruments preventing the illegal burning of landfill waste in Poland under the current EU energy policy. Therefore, it can be assumed that this system is not complete. Based on factor force analysis at a scale 1–5, it was found that technological (3.4), legal (3.16) and economic (3.0) factors have the greatest impact on this system. The waste management system should be oriented towards increased waste recovery and a more significant reduction in the volume of temporarily stored waste and landfill waste. It should be considered whether the current move away from the incineration of waste, according to the new EU energy policy, is a better solution in environmental and economic terms than incurring very high costs due to eliminating the effects of the incineration of landfill waste that causes environmental damage.

Studies were conducted in 2010 on phytoplankton assemblages in ponds in North-East Poland with catchment areas in village environments, mid-forest, mid-meadow and mid-field settings. Differences in phytoplankton abundance, biomass and structure and the environmental requirements of dominant species were assessed in the studied ponds. These features were related to variable physicochemical water parameters and nutrient presence; with the highest phytoplankton abundance and biomass dominated by chlorophytes and diatoms in the village ponds and the greatest diversity of species’ assemblages recorded in the mid-forest and mid-field ponds. In addition, CCA analysis of general trends in phytoplankton growth determined that NH4 and TN enhanced growth in the mid-meadow and mid-field ponds, and P-PO4 and pH influenced growth in the mid-forest pond. The relationships established in this study between phytoplankton and environmental conditions can directly influence future directions in small water-body conservation. Les études ont été menées en 2010 sur des assemblages de phytoplancton dans des mares dans le nord-est de la Pologne avec des bassins versants en milieu villageois, forestier, prairial et cultivé. Des différences dans l'abondance, la biomasse et la structure du phytoplancton et les exigences environnementales des espèces dominantes ont été évaluées dans les mares étudiées. Ces caractéristiques étaient liées aux paramètres physicochimiques variables de l'eau et à la présence de nutriments; avec la plus grande abondance et biomasse de phytoplancton dominée par les chlorophytes et les diatomées dans les mares du village et la plus grande diversité d'assemblages d'espèces enregistrés dans les mares du milieu forestier et cultivé. En outre, l'analyse CCA des tendances générales de la croissance du phytoplancton a déterminé que la croissance accrue par NH4 et TN dans les mares prairiale et en champ cultivé, et que le P-PO4 et le pH ont influencé la croissance dans la mare forestière. Les relations établies dans cette étude entre le phytoplancton et les conditions environnementales peuvent influencer directement les orientations futures dans la conservation des petites mares.

This study of periphytic algae and gastropods differentiation on macrophytes, stones, and dam substrates and the relationships between these communities in the vegetative season of 2001-2003 was conducted in the vicinity of a hydroelectric plant on the Pasłeka River. Damming the river caused decreased water discharge upstream from the plant, and increased it downstream. Thus, oxygen conditions downstream from the plant improved, but high nutrient concentrations were also recorded. Generally, increased orthophosphate concentrations do not allow river waters to be classified as having good or maximum ecological potential. Damming contributed to changes in the growth conditions of the periphytic algae and gastropods and their differentiation. The highest biomass of periphytic algae was noted on the dam, while the highest gastropods biomass was noted on macrophytes. The periphytic algae was dominated by the diatoms Diatoma vulgaris and Melosira varians (epiphyton, dam) and the chlorophytes Ulothrix tenuissima and Spirogyra sp. (epilithon), while the gastropods were dominated by Lymnea stagnalis (macrophytes), Theodoxus fluviatilis (stones), and Radix balthica (dam). The relationship between the gastropods and the periphytic algae on macrophytes and the dam in spring and summer revealed an increase in gastropods biomass and a decrease in periphytic algae biomass. This was indicated by the negative correlation between the biomass of these communities.

Environmental criminal law provides for measures targeting the most serious environmental offences and improving the enforceability of environmental provisions. In the article, environmental criminal law provisions in Poland and Russia are analyzed and compared. The changes introduced by the Council Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law have a significant impact on the Member States’ criminal law, promoting broader criminalization of environmentally harmful behavior and more severe sanctions. Although the Russian Federation is not an EU member and adopts its environmental legislation, it is still a party to several international treaties and therefore is obligated to provide an adequate level of environmental protection. There are several similarities between the criminal provisions in both countries concerning the classification of environmental crimes and the limbs of their legal definitions. Besides, both countries use a continental model of criminal procedure including their rules on evidence. It allowed us to compare national law enforcement practices. The authors analyze current law enforcement challenges and discuss possible solutions.

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