Polish cities expand textile waste collection with mobile points and curbside bags

From January 2025, Polish regulation prohibits discarding used clothing, shoes and other textiles in mixed‑waste bins. Municipalities are responding by introducing mobile selective‑collection units (mPSZOK) that travel to neighbourhoods and collect textiles alongside batteries, electronics and other small waste. The service is already operating in Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań, Olsztyn, Radom and, from July, Bydgoszcz.

Kielce piloted a curbside system using purple bags placed at homes, collecting 56 tonnes of clothing in the first year and an additional 110 tonnes when combined with PSZOK drop‑offs. The successful trial led to a permanent programme, now also adopted by Konstancin‑Jeziorna, where residents pack textiles into special bags and leave them at their property for quarterly collection. The collected material is sent to a facility in Promnik for conversion into alternative fuel.

These measures aim to simplify compliance with the selective‑collection mandate and improve accessibility for older or less mobile residents, addressing earlier shortcomings identified in a National Audit Office review of textile‑waste collection in several Świętokrzyskie municipalities.