State of the Environment Bulgaria 2003

Waste

What is the general situation with waste?

What is being done to solve the problems?

Waste management is one of the most challenging areas of modern environmental policy. It requires both the establishment of legislative provisions and adequate terms and secure financial provisions for their implementation.

The Ministry of Environment and Water is the competent authority regarding waste management in the country, namely for the preparation and the implementation of legislation, strategies, policies, international programmes and projects, and monitoring and control. The Ministry carries out these functions also through the Executive Environment Agency (EEA), in co-operation with a network of 15 Regional Inspectorates of Environment and Water (RIEWs).

The EEA provides for the Ministry’s information functions, related to waste management by collecting and processing information on municipal, construction, industrial, and hazardous waste in accordance with the Limitation of the Harmful Impact of Waste upon the Environment Act (1997) and Regulation No 10 on the requirements for completing the report and waste management information documents (1998).

A reporting system has been established through which the municipalities and other waste generators or processors report the quantity and the type of waste by filling in annual information cards (reports) as well as by keeping report books.

Another institution, which at the national level is charged with collection and processing of information on municipal, construction and industrial waste as well as on environmental expenses, is the National Statistical Institute (NSI). The NSI collects information via annual statistical questionnaires filled in by the companies and municipalities.

After enforcement of the Limitation of the Harmful Impact of Waste upon the Environment Act (LHIWEA) and the respective secondary legislation adopted between 1998 and 2001, an improvement of the waste information system has been observed. However, better information quality is still needed in order to use it for decision making at the respective levels and for conducting effective control.

More effective waste management control at regional and national level is related directly to the improvement of the current system for data collection and reporting.

At present the full picture of the problems regarding waste can be attained only by synthesis of the data provided by the statistical and environmental monitoring information systems.

Last update on March 2003