Sustainable Waste Management Practices: Challenges in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

Over the last 15 years, all the legislation on waste management in the Republic of Macedonia has been brought in compliance with the European legislation. The major challenge in the economy, however, still happens to be the (non) implementation of the enforced laws on green economy. Major constrains in waste management practices remain to be organization of institutions and human resources; financing of services and investments; stakeholder (non) awareness; and lack of technical management in all phases from collection to final disposal of waste. It is not only that the present situation has negative impact on the public health and the environment, but it also has serious negative economic effects which consequently affects issues related to the total economic growth of the country.

The paper has a special focus on managing packaging and packaging waste and analyzes the results of the implementation of the Law of Management of Packaging and Packaging Waste which was enforced in 2009. Positive initiatives in waste management practices were undertaken by PAKOMAK, the first Macedonian company that has been holding the license for selecting and processing of packaging waste since January 2011. The company has a proactive role in promoting the importance of packaging waste and its management, with a special emphasis on projects that increase the awareness of the whole society, especially that of the young population. Some of the projects that increase the eco-awareness of young population will be presented in the paper.

Citation

Toshevska-Trpchevska, K., Kikerkova, I. and Makrevska Disoska, E. (2017), "Sustainable Waste Management Practices: Challenges in the Republic of Macedonia", Renko, S. and Pestek, A. (Ed.) Green Economy in the Western Balkans, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 109-140. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-499-620171005