Abstract:
After the collapse of the Soviet system, every new independent state selected its
own way of development, own goals and speed of transformation. Dramatic changes
were linked not only to the political and economic sphere, but also to environmental
governance as a whole and waste management in particular. 25 years later the
authors looked at 6 post-soviet countries and analysed the situation in the sector
of municipal solid waste management by comparing this with EU member states
(some of them have a socialistic past). We used BiPRO approach (BiPRO, 2012) and
looked for answers related to the question: how far developed is the current state of
waste management in post-soviet countries compared to EU members? Which factors
define the potential efficiency of waste management system and its full conformity
with the situation in “old” EU member states? The overall scores of 6 post-soviet
countries range from 2 (Georgia) to 11 (Belarus). The common reasons for these
low scores in all mentioned countries are weak waste management policies, and
landfilling as a main way of waste disposal, the lack of economic instruments for
stimulating reducing of waste generation and recycling, as well as underdeveloped
infrastructure for waste treatment facilities. Specific problems for post-soviet countries
are, for example, the high share of landfilled biodegradable waste, incomplete
coverage of waste collection systems, the lack of forecasting of waste quantities
and planning of waste management, preserved obsolete soviet approach to tariff
policy, statistical accounting and administrative procedures in the sector of waste
management. The improvement of waste management systems should aim at the
legislative ban on the disposal of municipal solid waste at landfills, the re-establishment
of a separate waste collection system (disestablished after USSR collapse),
the establishment of economic and financial mechanisms supporting the waste processing
sector and stimulating the population to reduce waste generation.
