Green Economy and Waste Management as Determinants of Modeling Green Capital of Districts in Poland in 2010–2020

Waste management must comply with the principle of sustainable development. A green economy is one of the paths to sustainable development and response to environmental problems. Waste should be a raw material that can be reused, processed, or turned into energy. The aim of the article is to assess the relationship and present the concept of zero waste and green economy, and to show selected framework conditions for their development in the county. To study the formation of phenomena depending on the location of a given object in the socio-economic space, a synthetic measure, the similarity matrix, the Gini coefficient was used. The analysis took into account features describing the condition of the natural environment, links between the natural environment, economy and society, the quality of life of the population, economic policy, and instruments influencing the economy, society and the environment. Empirical data were obtained from the local database of the Central Statistical Office for the years 2010–2020. The obtained results indicate the existence of dependencies in the development of a green economy and waste management in the region. The synthetic measure of waste management is from 0.43 to 0.61 in 2010, from 0.39 to 0.55 in 2020; green economy from 0.42 to 0.55 in 2010 and from 0.43 to 0.56 in 2020. Waste management is based on multidimensional waste management, taking into account economic, ecological and social aspects. Economic activity is related to the degradation of the natural environment. The green economy should assume the elimination of waste and environmental threats and the preservation of their value. The green economy is becoming a factor inducing structural changes in the economy and social life, helping in the most effective, sustainable and efficient use of limited resources. In the literature on the subject, this type of research is carried out at the level of regions or voivodeships. The authors use their own sets of indicators or their own indicators aggregated according to the available data at the poviat level. The obtained results can be an important source of information for local government authorities about disproportions between units.