Implementation of the waste management hierarchy: Prevention as an imperative of sustainability

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of municipal waste amount generated in EU member and non EU member countries Positive experiences from developed countries show that the best results are achieved when attention is paid according to local specificity, while respecting national strategic determinations for each type of waste separately. The existing situation was reviewed, practice was analyzed and significant strategic documents and regulations were interpreted. On this basis, rational and feasible solutions were proposed, which include a wide range of measures to improve waste management, starting with the reduction of waste generation at the source, separate collection, recycling or other methods of recovering materials from waste, and ending with reliable and environmentally sustainable final disposal of waste. Also, necessary accompanying measures, educational and promotional activities, as well as monitoring of the established system were recommended. The paper focuses on municipal waste, which amounts generated per year present one of the most problematic in every country. The aim of the work is to show the trend of growth/decrease in the amount of municipal waste generated in European Union, member countries and in countries that are not. The benchmarking analysis showed a trend of decreasing amounts of municipal waste generated in developed countries, which clearly indicates successfully implemented strategies based on the Waste Hierarchy.