Clusters belong to the regional innovation system, which led to the formulation and implementation of the cluster-based policy in many countries. The positive impact of clusters on the competitiveness of regions was confirmed by empirical studies. Absence of clusters means retardation in a regional development. The implementation of cluster policy supporting coopetition into the scope of principled regional policy assumptions seems urgent. In this way effective conditions for the formation of growth poles around industries specific for a given region will be developed and, consequently, the economic specialization of individual regions will be achieved. Observation of the benefits resulting from the functioning of clusters in the region, taking into account their possible negative impact, will allow to determine the specificity of regional development policy based on clusters. These problems indicated above are the subject of this study, based on the Polish and foreign literature available on the subject employing the desk research method.

Municipal solid waste collection points (MSWCPs) are places where residents of municipalities can leave their waste free of charge. MSWCPs should operate in every municipality in Poland. The Geographic Information System (GIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) were used in conjunction as tools to determine potential locations of MSWCPs. Due to possible social conflicts related to the location of MSWCPs, three variants of buffer zones for a residential area were adopted. As a result of the spatial analysis carried out using the GIS software, 247 potential locations were identified in variant no. 1 (which accounted for 7.1% of commune area), 167 for variant no. 2 (6.3% of commune area), and 88 for variant no. 3 (3.8% of commune area). The most favourable locations for MSWCPs were determined using the AHP method with additional criteria for which weights were calculated as follows: the area of a designated plot (0.045), actual designation of a plot in the local spatial development plan (0.397), distance from the centre of the village (0.096) and the commune (0.231), and population density of a village (0.231). The highest weights (over 50%) in the AHP analysis were obtained for 12 locations in variant no. 3, two of which had an area over 3 ha. The adopted methodology enabled to identify quasi-optimal solutions for MSWCP locations in the analysed rural commune. This research has the potential to influence future waste management policies by assisting stakeholders in the MSWCP location.