To działanie pomaga w segregacji odpadów.

Here To means this.

So To działanie = this action.

A useful distinction:

• to = this/it/that in neutral identifying statements
• ten / ta / to = the more regular demonstrative adjectives meaning this

Because działanie is neuter, you could also see to działanie as the natural way to say this action.

Działanie most often means:

• action
• measure
• step
• sometimes operation depending on context

In this sentence, działanie is best understood as action or measure.

It is a neuter noun, which is useful to know because that affects agreement in other sentences.

Pomaga is the 3rd person singular present tense of the imperfective verb pomagać = to help.

So:

• pomaga = helps / is helping
• pomóc = to help in the perfective sense, often meaning to succeed in helping once

In this sentence, the speaker is describing a general fact or ongoing effect, so pomaga is the natural choice:

• To działanie pomaga... = This action helps...

Because Polish usually uses pomagać w + locative when talking about helping in some activity or process.

So:

• pomaga w nauce = helps in studying / helps with learning
• pomaga w pracy = helps at work / helps with work
• pomaga w segregacji odpadów = helps with waste sorting

Using segregację here would sound wrong, because pomagać does not normally take that noun directly in the accusative in this structure.

Because after w in this meaning, Polish uses the locative case.

The base noun is:

• segregacja = segregation / sorting

Its locative singular form is:

• w segregacji = in segregation / in sorting

So the ending changes:

• segregacja
• w segregacji

This is a very common pattern for feminine nouns ending in -acja.

Because segregacja normally takes the genitive to show segregation of what?

So:

• segregacja czego? = segregation of what?
• odpadów = of waste

The dictionary form is:

• odpady = waste / rubbish / refuse

But here we need the genitive plural:

• odpadów

So:

• segregacja odpadów = waste segregation / segregation of waste

They are close, but not identical in tone.

• odpady is a bit more formal or technical: waste
• śmieci is more everyday: trash / garbage

So segregacja odpadów is very natural in official, environmental, or educational language.
In casual speech, people might also say sortowanie śmieci.

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible, though the original version is the most neutral.

Neutral:

• To działanie pomaga w segregacji odpadów.

Possible alternatives:

• W segregacji odpadów pomaga to działanie.
• Pomaga w segregacji odpadów to działanie.

These alternatives can sound more marked or emphasize a different part of the sentence. For a learner, the original word order is the safest and most natural.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

To dja-WA-nye po-MA-ga f seh-greh-GA-tsyee od-PA-doof

A few useful notes:

• działanie sounds roughly like dja-WA-nye
• w is pronounced like v/f depending on the next sound; here in fast speech it often sounds closer to f
• segregacji ends with a sound like -tsyi
• odpadów ends with -ów, pronounced like oof

Both are possible, but waste sorting often sounds more natural in everyday English.

So depending on context:

• To działanie pomaga w segregacji odpadów.
• This action helps with waste sorting.
• This measure helps in the segregation of waste.

The second English version is more literal and slightly more formal.