TVN investigation alleges Elemental Holding falsified waste transports; minister freezes 1 billion złoty subsidy

Superwizjer investigation

TVN24's "Superwizjer" aired a report on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, alleging that Elemental Holding, one of Poland's largest waste and recycling corporations, engaged in falsifying waste transport documents and running fictitious recycling operations. Reporter Filip Folczak explained that collecting old appliances, for which consumers pay through a surcharge embedded in product prices, is expensive, and that falsifying documents is far simpler. According to the report, trucks drove between companies pretending to transport waste while corresponding receipts were fabricated to collect funds designated for e-waste recycling. Reporters tracked one truck that, according to documents, should have been carrying different types of waste at different times, but the vehicle spent hours simply waiting.

The report noted that 18.3 tons of e-waste allegedly entered and left a single facility, a quantity reporters stated is physically impossible to load onto a single truck due to volume constraints. A manager at one of Elemental's subsidiaries faces prosecutorial charges for involvement in falsifying over 4,000 transport documents. According to unofficial information cited in the report, the National Prosecutor's Office and the Central Investigation Bureau of Police are investigating.

Government response

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański addressed the matter on TVN24 on Tuesday evening, stating that not a single złoty has been disbursed for the project. The project concerns the recovery of rare earth metals and received high marks from the European Commission, which placed it on a list of strategic projects for European economic security. It also secured financing from the European Innovation Fund and the European Investment Bank. Domański said he asked Tomasz Siemoniak, the minister coordinating special services, to place the matter under particular oversight. The National Revenue Administration and the Ministry of Development and Technology are conducting controls. Domański stated that if grounds arise, the contract will be terminated.

Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska reported that the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection and the prosecutor's office are conducting proceedings regarding possible irregularities. The Ministry of Development and Technology stated on Tuesday that no public funds will be paid to Elemental Battery Metals Sp. z o.o. until the matter is fully clarified.

Political reactions

Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak of the Confederation party wrote on social media on Wednesday, 12 August, about "stealing cash" distributed under noble environmental pretexts.

In my opinion, politicians selected in democracy are too stupid and too weak to guard such large sums and such complicated programs, therefore one should resist pseudo-moral temptation and not create such programs as those described below.

Bosak added that "no program equals no opportunity to steal cash." Former deputy environment minister Jacek Ozdoba of PiS noted that authorities already possess monitoring tools, transfer cards, drones, and photo traps. Zbigniew Konwiński, chairman of the KO parliamentary club, said specific people make decisions to defraud funds, not the finance minister. Rafał Kasprzyk of Unia Centrum described the waste problem as a ticking time bomb left by eight years of PiS rule.

Company and media response

Elemental Holding rejected the allegations, calling the TVN report unreliable and containing false information. The company announced legal action against TVN's editor-in-chief and board, demanding removal of the report and publication of a correction. Elemental stated that the incidents described concern small subsidiaries accounting for 1.5% of total revenue, and called the linking of its publicly funded projects to a "waste mafia" narrative baseless.

Journalist Krzysztof Stanowski, founder of Kanał Zero, was drawn into the controversy after his portal zero.pl had published a positive piece about Elemental days earlier. After reporter Filip Folczak pointed out the article, a "sponsored" label was added. Stanowski clarified the company did not sponsor the article; the portal had been a conference partner and, under a barter arrangement, agreed to publish a description of one of the panels. He acknowledged it should have been labeled better.