Coordination of logistics processes in recycling

Recycling in Poland is in the early stages of development, and its proper implementation requires the introduction of appropriately formulated coordination rules and extensive education for the personnel responsible for recycling. Research and analysis indicate that this will allow companies and the economy to achieve real benefits.

The previous approach to processes and activities carried out within the supply chain did not take into account the issue of managing the packaging waste generated in this way. Constantly growing consumption and increasingly sophisticated forms of packaging used by manufacturers require engagement with the problems of excessive amounts of unmanaged waste. Increasingly, when talking about efficiently functioning supply chains, processes of returns, removal, and disposal of waste are also mentioned, which are handled by the logistics of disposal processes, often called eco-logistics. One of the ways to eliminate unnecessary waste, which is considered the most environmentally friendly, is to subject it to recycling. The growing importance of recycling is visible, among other things, through numerous legal acts passed in the recent period. Recycling is the reprocessing of substances or materials contained in waste in a production process for the purpose of obtaining a substance or material for its original purpose or for another purpose, including organic recycling, excluding energy recovery. We understand the recycling process as the transformation of packaging waste from the moment of its acquisition to the creation of a useful final product from it, which can be used instead of a product made from natural raw materials.

Schematically, the recycling process can be divided into three segments, in which separate economic entities are participants:

A –

this is the segment of collecting and preparing packaging waste into a form in which it is suitable for reprocessing

B –

this is essentially a production process that consists of processing packaging waste into a substance or product that –

as an effect of the recycling process –

in itself constitutes value for the final recipient. This segment is referred to as proper recycling

C –

this is the segment in which the result of the recycling process is used as a substitute for an element made from natural raw materials.

The entities that are obliged to participate in the recycling process, in accordance with the act on waste management, are manufacturers, importers, and commercial units that introduce packaging to the market as a result of their activities, and in particular: