Analysis · November 2026
Zinc in the Polish economyvalue, circularity and security of supply
Poland has had no zinc mine since 2020, yet it remains one of the larger zinc producers in the EU – about 70% of the zinc from Polish smelters comes from secondary materials. With galvanizers and suppliers, the zinc value chain generates EUR 404 million of value added and 10,400 jobs.
At a glance
404EUR m
gross value added – zinc chain with galvanizers and domestic suppliers
10,353jobs
in the zinc chain and at its Polish suppliers
136EUR m
of taxes and contributions a year (PLN 584 m, VAT excluded); the smelters recognised EUR 30 m of energy-cost compensation and aid
70%
of the zinc from Polish smelters comes from secondary materials – oxides from steel-plant dust, residues and scrap
131kt
of hazardous steel-plant dust treated in the Waelz kilns in Bukowno
108EUR m
surplus in unwrought zinc trade in 2024 – Poland is a net exporter of zinc
Central values for 2024. The line under each figure shows the 90% uncertainty band (P5–P95) on a scale from zero. Gross contribution, not net effects; taxes are an attribution, not a net fiscal balance.
Seven findings
EUR 404 million of value added
The five segments of the chain generate EUR 219 million of gross value added directly, EUR 404 million with domestic suppliers and EUR 486 million with employees’ spending. More than half comes from galvanizing steel; the two smelters generate EUR 65 million, of which EUR 51 million is attributed to secondary zinc.
10,400 jobs, smelters on thin margins
About 6,750 people work directly in the chain and about 10,350 including suppliers. Without compensation of indirect emission costs and energy-price aid (PLN 129.8 million), the combined EBITDA of the two smelters would have been PLN 7.4 million instead of PLN 137.2 million.
Among Europe’s most recycling-based zinc smelters
About 110 kt of zinc was recovered from secondary materials in 2024 – about 70% of output and 94% of apparent consumption. The Miasteczko Śląskie smelter has used only secondary feed since late 2023.
A hub of the European residue loop
Zinc-bearing materials arising in Poland cover only about 27% of the secondary feed. About 86 kt of zinc comes from abroad, mainly as oxide concentrates from EU countries.
Higher carbon footprint, value in hazardous waste
On a screening basis, secondary zinc from Polish smelters carries about 6.7 t CO₂e per tonne, against 3.5 t for global average primary zinc – recycling does not lower emissions here. Its environmental value lies in treating about 131 kt of hazardous steel-plant dust and potentially avoiding 1.3 Mt of flotation tailings a year.
Net exporter of zinc without a mine
Zinc output equals 134% of apparent consumption, and the surplus in unwrought zinc trade is EUR 108 million. Primary feed is imported concentrate; 3.9 Mt of zinc in domestic deposits remains undeveloped.
Energy costs decide the future
In the residue-hub scenario (2035), value added with suppliers rises by about EUR 62 million. High energy costs (2030) would cut it by about EUR 49 million and zinc output to 132 kt.
From steel-plant dust to galvanized steel – five links
The ZN-PL model covers collection and trading of zinc-bearing residues, secondary and primary zinc from two smelters, semis, oxide and castings, and galvanizing of steel – the largest user of zinc.
Collection & trade
Zinc scrap and zinc-bearing residues
- EUR m GVA
- 11
- jobs
- 181
Secondary zinc
Waelz kilns, Imperial Smelting, electrolysis of oxides
- EUR m GVA
- 51
- jobs
- 1,279
Primary zinc
Electrolysis of zinc from concentrate (ZGH Bolesław)
- EUR m GVA
- 15
- jobs
- 676
Semis, oxide, castings
Titanium-zinc sheet, zinc dust, zinc oxide
- EUR m GVA
- 20
- jobs
- 785
Zinc coating of steel
Hot-dip and electrolytic galvanizers
- EUR m GVA
- 122
- jobs
- 3,804
Zinc and zinc alloys
galvanizers · foundries · exports
+EUR 108 msurplus in unwrought zinc trade, 2024
Economy
Value added, jobs, taxes and support
Environment
Hazardous waste, emissions, flotation tailings
Strategy
Coverage of consumption, trade, feed dependence
EUR 404 million of value added and 10,400 jobs
Purchases from Polish suppliers – energy, coke, materials, services and transport – add EUR 186 million of value added and about 3,650 jobs, and employees’ spending EUR 82 million and about 1,800 jobs.
- Direct
- Supply chain
- Employees’ spending
Gross value added, EUR m
Persons employed
Gross contribution at fixed input–output coefficients, not net jobs. Results depend on scope: without galvanizing (Z1–Z4), direct value added is EUR 97 million.
Taxes EUR 136 million, support EUR 30 million
Taxes and contributions linked to the chain, its suppliers and household spending are estimated at EUR 136 million a year. The smelters recognised PLN 129.8 million of indirect emission cost compensation and energy-price aid – without it their result would have been close to zero.
Taxes and contributions by type, EUR m, 2024
Result of the two smelters and support, PLN m, 2024
SourceTaxes excluding VAT; EUR 8 million recognised by the smelters, the rest modelled – an attribution, not a net fiscal balance. Compensation is a production subsidy (ESA 2010 D.39), outside value added.
Zinc from residues – mostly from abroad
In 2024 the smelters processed about 118 kt of zinc in secondary feed. Only about 32 kt came from materials arising in Poland; the rest was mainly imported oxide concentrates.
kt Zn, 2024
× secondary zinc / secondary feed ≈ 0.93
Higher carbon footprint, treatment of hazardous waste
Screening inventories of the two Polish secondary routes give about 6.7 t CO₂e per tonne of zinc – more than global average primary zinc (3.5 t). The environmental value of zinc recycling lies elsewhere: in treating hazardous waste and potentially avoiding mining.
Carbon footprint per tonne of zinc, t CO₂e (cradle to gate)
Steel-plant dust treated in Bukowno, 2024
131 kt
Change in emissions in variants, kt CO₂e (negative value – emissions higher than with primary zinc)
What zinc recycling delivers
- Treatment of about 131 kt of hazardous steel-plant dust a year – the alternative would be stabilisation and landfilling or recovery elsewhere.
- About 1.32 Mt of flotation tailings a year potentially avoided at primary zinc producers abroad.
- For the emissions balance to be zero, the footprint of the secondary route would have to fall by 47%; low-carbon power and reductants narrow the gap but do not close it.
The higher footprint stems from the Waelz process and low-grade residues, not only from Polish plants. Verified EU ETS emissions of the two installations were 574 kt CO₂ in 2024.
Exporter of zinc, importer of concentrates and semis
Poland sells unwrought zinc and zinc alloys – mainly to Germany, Slovakia and Czechia – and buys ores and concentrates, semis and zinc oxide.
Zinc trade balance by stage of processing, EUR m
- Unwrought zinc
- Ores and concentrates
- Semis and powders
- Zinc oxide
Largest partners, 2025 · 73 kt
- DE18.2
- SK13.0
- CZ10.7
- AT9.3
- UA3.5
- FR2.4
- RS2.3
- IT2.2
Largest partners, 2025 · 180 kt
- TR27.8
- UK22.2
- DE19.7
- RS18.4
- ME17.9
- MK15.6
- BA15.1
- FI10.0
Where the zinc industry operates
Both smelters operate in southern Poland – in Bukowno and Miasteczko Śląskie. Dust for the Waelz kilns comes from electric steel plants in Zawiercie, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Warsaw and Gliwice, among others, and zinc goes to galvanizers across the country.
- Zinc smelters
- Recovery from residues
- Mine (closed)
- Semis and oxide
- Galvanizing
- Electric steel plants – dust sources
List of plants
- ZGH Bolesław – huta cynkuBukowno · Zinc smeltersRoasting, leaching and electrolysis of zinc; zinc alloys, zinc oxide, sulphuric acidScale: 79.1 kt Zn; 89.3 kt H₂SO₄
- Huta Cynku Miasteczko ŚląskieMiasteczko Śląskie · Zinc smeltersImperial Smelting furnace on secondary oxides; zinc rectification; lead and cadmiumScale: 74.7 kt Zn; 14.8 kt Pb
- ZGH Bolesław – piece przewałoweBukowno · Recovery from residuesRecovery of zinc oxide from EAF dust and zinc-bearing sludgesScale: 46.3 kt crude Waelz oxide (dry)
- ZM Silesia – zakład w OławieOława · Recovery from residuesProcessing of hard zinc (bottom dross) and other galvanizing residuesScale: Galvanizing residues
- Kopalnia Olkusz-Pomorzany (zamknięta)Olkusz · Mine (closed)Former zinc-lead ore mine of ZGH BolesławScale: Extraction ended 31.12.2020
- Boltech (grupa ZGH)Bukowno · Semis and oxideZinc products, zinc dust, die-casting alloys, anodesScale: 5.8 kt zinc products; 3.1 kt zinc dust
- ZM Silesia (grupa Boryszew)Katowice · Semis and oxideTitanium-zinc sheet and strip, zinc anodes and wire, zinc oxideScale: Titanium-zinc sheet
- Seppeler Ocynkownia ŚląskKluczbork · GalvanizingHot-dip galvanizing (also Świdnica, Częstochowa, Chrzanów)Scale: Four plants
- Mostostal SiedlceSiedlce · GalvanizingSteel structures and hot-dip galvanizingScale: Galvanizing plant
- ArcelorMittal Poland – linie powlekaniaŚwiętochłowice · GalvanizingContinuous galvanizing of steel strip (also Dąbrowa Górnicza); largest customer of the zinc groupScale: 11.6% of Stalprodukt group revenue
- CMC PolandZawiercie · Electric steel plants – dust sourcesElectric-arc-furnace steel; source of zinc-bearing dustScale: EAF steelworks
- Celsa Huta OstrowiecOstrowiec Świętokrzyski · Electric steel plants – dust sourcesElectric-arc-furnace steel; source of zinc-bearing dustScale: EAF steelworks
- ArcelorMittal WarszawaWarszawa · Electric steel plants – dust sourcesElectric-arc-furnace steel; source of zinc-bearing dustScale: EAF steelworks
- Cognor – Ferrostal ŁabędyGliwice · Electric steel plants – dust sourcesElectric-arc-furnace steel; source of zinc-bearing dustScale: EAF steelworks
Milestones 2025–2030
For electricity-intensive zinc smelting, energy costs and compensation of indirect emission costs matter most, and for the feed – the rules on waste shipments.
EU Steel and Metals Action Plan
Energy costs and scrap availability for metal production.
Customs surveillance of metal scrap
Covers ferrous, aluminium and copper scrap – not zinc.
Compensation for 2024 costs
PLN 129.1 million for lead, zinc and tin production (NACE 24.43).
Free allocation 2026–2030
Second part of EU ETS phase 4; zinc outside the CBAM.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 applies
New rules on waste shipments, including steel-plant dust.
Zawiercie deposits
Proceedings to recognise zinc-lead deposits as strategic.
CRMA Strategic Projects (2nd list)
No zinc project in Poland; zinc is not a critical raw material.
New rules for exports outside the OECD
Exports of non-hazardous waste to non-OECD countries.
CRMA 2030 benchmarks
Zinc not listed; gallium and germanium are strategic.
End of the national compensation scheme
The scheme covers 2021–2030.
Growth depends on residues and energy prices
Three what-if calculations at 2024 prices with rising labour productivity. Output is capped by the capacity of the two smelters – about 165 kt, including about 125 kt from secondary feed.
Value added with the supply chain · EUR m
Jobs with the supply chain · persons
Secondary zinc · kt
What would strengthen the chain
The report points to five directions, without prejudging legislative solutions.
- Energy costs – keep zinc production eligible for compensation of indirect emission costs after 2030 and ensure predictable long-term electricity supply.
- Residue processing – recognise the treatment of steel-plant dust and other zinc-bearing residues as a recovery service for the steel industry and galvanizers, and keep shipment procedures in the EU efficient.
- Decarbonising the secondary route – support replacing coke and fossil energy in the Waelz kilns and the shaft furnace, and renewable power.
- By-products and raw materials – assess recovery of germanium, gallium and indium from zinc feed and complete the assessment of the strategic status of the Zawiercie deposits.
- Methodology – develop a harmonised life-cycle assessment of zinc from steel-plant dust and a dynamic model of zinc flows in Poland.
Method in brief
ZN-PL uses the Chamber’s architecture of integrated models and adapts it to zinc – from the mass balance of zinc in the feed to the effects on the economy, taxes and public support.
Scope and allocation
Five segments Z1–Z5; both smelters from their financial statements, ZGH split by the share of oxides in its feed.
Zinc mass balance
Secondary zinc, secondary feed and domestic supply from dust, sludges and residues; apparent consumption from CN 7901 trade.
Economy and taxes
Leontief input–output model, Type I and II, on the FIGARO 2024 table; compensation outside value added.
Environment
Screening inventories of the Waelz–electrolysis and Imperial Smelting routes against primary zinc (IZA); tailings, dust.
Strategy
Coverage ratios, trade balances, import concentration, processing margin, cost shocks.
Uncertainty
Monte Carlo 10,000 draws with a Gaussian copula; sensitivity analysis, structural variants and scenarios.
Limitations
- Results are gross contributions at fixed coefficients, not net policy effects; taxes are an attribution, not a fiscal balance.
- Flows of steel-plant dust and oxide concentrates are not published – domestic supply is a bottom-up estimate.
- The footprint of secondary zinc rests on screening inventories; impact categories other than climate change were not assessed.
- Zinc prices, treatment charges and energy prices change the results materially; smelter margins in 2024 were low.
The report was prepared using artificial intelligence tools for data processing, modelling and editing.
Download and cite
The full report contains the regulatory context, methodology, all parameters with ranges and sources, control tests, the list of installations and the bibliography.
IGMNiR (2026), Zinc in the Polish economy: value, circularity and security of supply. An integrated assessment of the zinc industry in Poland (ZN-PL model), Economic Chamber of Non-Ferrous Metals and Recycling, November 2026.
Model run identifier: ZNPL-1.2-ca67c181e2