Menu

On March 31, 2026, the con­fer­ence “Munic­i­pal Waste Man­age­ment Sys­tem – between reg­u­la­tions and real­i­ty” took place at Are­na Katow­ice, bring­ing togeth­er rep­re­sen­ta­tives of local gov­ern­ments, the indus­try, and experts from Poland and abroad.

Dur­ing the event, key chal­lenges fac­ing the waste man­age­ment sys­tem were dis­cussed – from the deposit return sys­tem, through extend­ed pro­duc­er respon­si­bil­i­ty (EPR), to the role of munic­i­pal instal­la­tions. Among the speak­ers were rep­re­sen­ta­tives of MPGK Katow­ice, KIGO, the Union of Pol­ish Metrop­o­lis­es, as well as inter­na­tion­al part­ners.

Arka­diusz Primus, CEO of Investeko SA, pre­sent­ed the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project and the role of recy­clers in the selec­tive waste col­lec­tion sys­tem – dis­cussing the real­i­ties of the recy­cling indus­try, the costs of sourc­ing input mate­ri­als, and the oppor­tu­ni­ties and poten­tial of 3D print­ing.

We would like to thank MPGK Katow­ice for the invi­ta­tion and orga­ni­za­tion of the event. The meet­ing con­firmed how impor­tant dia­logue between local gov­ern­ments, the indus­try, and experts is in cre­at­ing effec­tive solu­tions.

📸 Below is a pho­to col­lage.

On 21 Novem­ber 2025, the fourth cross-sec­toral debate of the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project took place. This time, the PLC project team (Arka­diusz Primus, Bes­im Hox­ha and Dag­mara Bunt­ner ) went to Gdańsk to talk with the rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the GOZilla.PL project about cur­rent and future chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties in waste man­age­ment. Among the invit­ed guests were the Mem­ber of the Man­age­ment Board of the Pomeran­ian Voivode­ship, Mr. Adam Gawry­lik, and rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the Mar­shal’s Office of the Pomeran­ian Voivode­ship, local waste uti­liza­tion and man­age­ment plants, munic­i­pal man­age­ment enter­pris­es, the Pomeran­ian Region­al Devel­op­ment Agency S.A. and recy­clers.
The Pomeran­ian Voivode­ship is imple­ment­ing the LIFE Pom GOZilla.PL project enti­tled “Imple­men­ta­tion of the Waste Man­age­ment Plan of the Pomeran­ian Voivode­ship (PGOWP) tak­ing into account the hier­ar­chy of munic­i­pal waste man­age­ment and the prin­ci­ples of cir­cu­lar econ­o­my (CEE)”, financed by the LIFE Pro­gramme. The project aims to imple­ment the Waste Man­age­ment Plan of the Pomeran­ian Voivode­ship, which takes into account the waste hier­ar­chy and the prin­ci­ples of the cir­cu­lar econ­o­my (CE).
The debate was opened by the rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the GOZilla.PL project: Ms. Pauli­na Górs­ka, Deputy Direc­tor of the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­ment at Urząd Marsza­łkows­ki Wojew­ództ­wa Pomorskiego, Ms. Kami­la Schmidt (Head of the Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Projects of the UMWP, project man­ag­er of LIFE POM GOZilla.PL) and Ms. Katarzy­na Wiśniews­ka (Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Projects of the UMWP).
Arka­diusz Primus (project man­ag­er of the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project) pre­sent­ed to the invit­ed guests the tech­ni­cal, tech­no­log­i­cal and legal aspects of PLC plant and dis­cussed the chal­lenges that Pol­ish recy­clers have to face as a result of the cri­sis on the plas­tic recy­cling mar­ket.

plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle at the Recy­cling Tech Fair – Inno­va­tion in action
From Sep­tem­ber 16–18, 2025, dur­ing the inter­na­tion­al Recy­cling Tech trade fair at Ptak War­saw Expo in Nadarzyn, we had the plea­sure of pre­sent­ing our plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project. The event, one of the most impor­tant in Poland’s recy­cling and resource recov­ery sec­tor, com­bines tech­no­log­i­cal inno­va­tion with prac­ti­cal solu­tions for a cir­cu­lar econ­o­my.

At the heart of inno­va­tion, tech­nol­o­gy, and recy­cling
The Recy­cling Tech trade fair brought togeth­er exhibitors and experts spe­cial­iz­ing in waste pro­cess­ing, sep­a­ra­tion and sort­ing sys­tems, resource recov­ery, plas­tics tech­nolo­gies, and e‑waste recy­cling.

Our booth drew atten­tion not only for its theme but also for its dis­tinc­tive design, the fur­ni­ture was entire­ly 3D-print­ed, serv­ing as a pow­er­ful sym­bol of how tech­nol­o­gy can enable mate­r­i­al reuse and close the plas­tics loop.

Meet­ings and valu­able con­nec­tions
The fair pro­vid­ed an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty for numer­ous con­ver­sa­tions with com­pa­nies, sup­pli­ers, sci­en­tists, and orga­ni­za­tions work­ing in the envi­ron­men­tal sec­tor. We exchanged expe­ri­ences, insights, and ideas while explor­ing the lat­est tech­no­log­i­cal solu­tions. These inter­ac­tions offered both inspi­ra­tion and con­crete direc­tions for fur­ther devel­op­ing the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project.

Many dis­cus­sions focused on tech­no­log­i­cal chal­lenges: how to enhance the effi­cien­cy of sort­ing and sep­a­ra­tion process­es, how to intro­duce greater automa­tion, which plas­tic mate­ri­als can be bet­ter uti­lized, and what bar­ri­ers still exist to improv­ing recy­cling rates.

Inno­va­tion and the path for­ward
One of the key take­aways from the fair was the con­fir­ma­tion that inno­va­tion and tech­nol­o­gy are essen­tial to achiev­ing cir­cu­lar­i­ty and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment goals. They are the dri­ving forces behind change — both at the indus­tri­al scale and in local ini­tia­tives.

Our stand, show­cas­ing 3D-print­ed fur­ni­ture, illus­trat­ed in prac­tice how inno­v­a­tive think­ing can merge recy­cling, design, and mod­ern tech­nol­o­gy — inspir­ing new ideas for the use of recy­cled mate­ri­als.

Look­ing ahead
Par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Recy­cling Tech fair demon­strat­ed that the plas­ti­cLIFE­cy­cle project is per­fect­ly aligned with cur­rent mar­ket trends and indus­try pri­or­i­ties. Being part of this dynam­ic envi­ron­ment of inno­va­tion, tech­nol­o­gy, and recy­cling marks an impor­tant step in build­ing future ini­tia­tives.

The 3D-print­ed fur­ni­ture became a last­ing sym­bol of how mod­ern design and cir­cu­lar econ­o­my prin­ci­ples can come togeth­er. This expe­ri­ence rein­forces our belief that inno­va­tion and cross-sec­tor col­lab­o­ra­tion are key to achiev­ing mean­ing­ful, last­ing change.

Beneficiaries
Co-financing institutions

Objective 1

                                      to design, implement, test and validate the pilot PLC plant for efficient sorting of mixed hard plastic waste

Objective 2

                                    to implement standardized PLC-compatible procedures for mixed hard plastic waste pre-sorting in municipal waste treatment plants and thus to create standardized waste stream as an input to PLCplant (3,500t/y)

Objective 3

                                  to design, implement, test and validate the pilot unit for production of tailored compounds for products manufacturing with 70-90% recycled material from PLC (capacity 400t/y)

Objective 4

                                            to design, implement, test and validate the innovative mobile 3Dprinting prototype with 100% recycled material from PLC (capacity 65t/y)

Objective 5

                                    to establish new circular business network (i.e. PLCnetwork) to boost cooperation between municipal waste treatment plants, plastic-recyclers and converters (12 plants, 3 countries)

Objective 6

                                        to increase the quality of recycled polyolefins reaching levels of food packaging production - 3 newly developed tailored compounds

Objective 7

                                      to develop 5 market-ready products using bulk amounts (70-100%) of PLC-recycled materials

Objective 8

                                          to prepare PLCtechnology replication&transfer starting with environmental decisions for two full-scale plants

Objective 1

                                      to design, implement, test and validate the pilot PLC plant for efficient sorting of mixed hard plastic waste

Objective 2

                                    to implement standardized PLC-compatible procedures for mixed hard plastic waste pre-sorting in municipal waste treatment plants and thus to create standardized waste stream as an input to PLCplant (3,500t/y)

Objective 3

                                  to design, implement, test and validate the pilot unit for production of tailored compounds for products manufacturing with 70-90% recycled material from PLC (capacity 400t/y)

Objective 4

                                            to design, implement, test and validate the innovative mobile 3Dprinting prototype with 100% recycled material from PLC (capacity 65t/y)

Objective 5

                                    to establish new circular business network (i.e. PLCnetwork) to boost cooperation between municipal waste treatment plants, plastic-recyclers and converters (12 plants, 3 countries)

Objective 6

                                        to increase the quality of recycled polyolefins reaching levels of food packaging production - 3 newly developed tailored compounds

Objective 7

                                      to develop 5 market-ready products using bulk amounts (70-100%) of PLC-recycled materials

Objective 8

                                          to prepare PLCtechnology replication&transfer starting with environmental decisions for two full-scale plants

Reduction of greenhouse gases (tons/year)

5355

Reduction of waste (tons/year)

3500

Dissemination and publicity (workshops & conferences)

60

Recycling capacity (tons/year)

2800

The solution for the management of mixed hard PLASTIC waste by applying CIrCuLar Economy approach.

Investeko S.A.

Wojska Polskiego 16G

41-600 Świętochłowice

tel: 32 258 55 80

fax: 32 707 45 33

biuro@investeko.pl

NIP: 634-281-00-82

REGON: 242953362

KRS: 0000420405

© 2026 Investeko S.A.

Privacy policy Media package Regulamin zamówień
plasticLIFEcycle project no. LIFE21/ENV/PL/074161 has received funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Union and from the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management