Summary:

Waste management comprises a number of single activities forming a cohe-rent system aiming at creating conditions for waste storage, their transport and disposal.
Poland committed herself to implement and realise the European Union di-rectives concerning waste management. One of the major problems is closing down the hitherto existing landfills which do not meet the requirements of the directives. Moreover, the European Union requires a radical diminishing of the municipal waste quantities deposited on landfills.
This aim may be reached by means of appropriate education about handling wastes and creating a system of waste management, suitable for local conditions. The paper shows the waste management system existing in the past in the Bochnia commune and the current state of affairs, and suggests solutions leading to improvement of the currently existent system. The research, conducted in the form of directed interviews among the investigated commune dwellers allowed to indicate the main trends of changes in the system of waste management, particularly concerning the waste collection.