WASTE

WASTE IN SERBIA

While trying to bring closer the activities and processes carried out by waste generators we support an existence of an integral waste management system. Such a system is composed of a number of measures and procedures. European experiences show great possibilities in thermal processing efficiency where three countries in particular Slovenia, Austria and Denmark have made great steps forward in harnessing the energy released through incinerating dangerous waste which made obvious great caloric properties of industrial dangerous waste.Energy gained this way is used in heating other facilities or buildings. We in the Republic of Serbia do not have facilities for such treatment of waste, which is why we have a very dangerous problem and that is waste mismanagement.

We as a society in general have a distinctly negative attitude towards garbage dumps and garbage itself because our awareness is at a very low level. Industrialization, stagnant at present, has left a wide variety of garbage in its wake. In the period of rapid industrialization we have not had a strategic plan regarding waste management for coming generations to implement, which is why today we have unsolved problems in fields of environment protection and waste management on a national level. Waste generators who alone have in their possession hundreds of tons of waste have received waste from copious humanitarian packages whose sole purpose at times was for someone’s waste to come and stay here. Inadequate and uncontrolled handling of waste is a major problem which all countries of the world are facing today, especially those in the process of transition.

In the Republic of Serbia such an attitude towards garbage has reached almost alarming proportions and it calls for a responsible and decisive reaction from the state through its competent institutions. We, as a society, need to have a more responsible attitude towards all aspects of environment protection.     

 

 

ABOUT GARBAGE - CREATION

 The creation of all forms of garbage is a result of growth and development of the human species, development of great urban areas and settlements and their subsequent activities. The end results are large quantities of all sorts of waste that pollute the environment. There is not a single living being in the world that creates garbage in such quantities and at such pace as the human race. The predictions for possible quantities of waste in the future are alarming. A possible growth to five times the current amount in the next ten years is something we could not follow up on with the current technology and way of thinking in waste management.

In the Republic of Serbia a National strategy in waste management is about to be adopted at a session of the Government of Republic of Serbia. We have a document which actually forces us to enact new rules and guidelines, such as those in existence in the EU. Unfortunately the inertia of bureaucracy is where that strategy is losing its battle. To put it simply as possible, garbage is created by all categories of society, while the waste management system should follow the waste systematization path until the emergence of some other, new types of garbage creation and garbage in general.

The Waste Management Law determins place of garbage creation, as well as its categories in accordance with international regulation which the state has already accepted and signed to be:

Waste according to:

- place of origin:

a) communal waste

b) production process waste

 

and further according to:                               

- aggregate state:

a) solid

b) liquid

c) gas

d) powder

 

...and of course accord to:                           

- properties

a) inertly hazardous

b) safe/not hazardous

c)hazardous

 

WHAT IS WASTE?

In defining it we can say that waste is all matter or object properly categorized which an owner throws away, has intent to throw away or simply has to throw away. Waste is, first and foremost, a large quantity of unused matter which through proper and responsible use can serve an excellent purpose. In our everyday lives all of us produce waste in form of old newspapers, food scraps, plastic bottles, used batteries, all sorts of tin cans, auto parts and many other various forms of waste. In order to give a clearer definition of waste we need to explain the ownership structure of waste. An owner of waste is the every individual that has waste in his or hers possession while waste producers are all legal entities and natural persons who create waste through their activities, change the content and properties of waste in the process, regardless of the method through which it is done.

Looking further into places of origin of waste and its properties, it should be noted that “DRA GROUP” company has specialized in managing and handling waste results of production processes, preparation and use of pharmaceutical products, including prescription drugs that are beyond their expiration dates, and those types of hazardous waste that originated from Health Centers, laboratories, clinics, specialized industrial facilities such as electric plants (PCB), cement plants (AZBESTUS FIBERS, CEPLATIN), Postal and power distribution (transformer station oils/PCB), car industry, paint and varnish, organic dissolvents, solid waste which originated during the processes of cleaning paint and varnish covered surfaces, tin can and packaging industry, food processing industry, additives, pesticides, electronic waste.

 

The most dangerous property of waste naturally is:

HAZARDOUS WASTE

 

All waste which is categorized as hazardous is considered hazardous waste. In order to be categorized as such it has to have one or more of the following properties: toxicity, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, explosiveness, self-inflammability, irritability, infectiousness and many other similar properties. All hazardous waste packaged into any kind of packaging be it glass, metal, cardboard, plastic, etc., makes equally hazardous waste out of its packaging.

Hazardous waste presents an actual threat to human well being and the environment because it has properties which endanger the safety of humans in their near and far surroundings. Such waste should be controlled and monitored according to all current regulation. Hazardous waste should never be disposed off, carried or mixed with non hazardous waste, even after it has been recycled but should be safely stored in adequate temporary depots.

 

07 05 13*        Solid wastes containing dangerous substances

11 01 13*        Degreasing wastes containing dangerous substances

13 02 06*        Synthetic engine, gear and lubricating oils

13 03 10*        Other insulating and heat transmission

13 01 11*        Synthetic hydraulic oil

15 01 10*        Mineral based non-chlorinated hydraulic oils

16 02 09*        Transformers and capacitors that contain PCB

16 02 15*        Hazardous components removed from discarded equipment

17 06 03*        Other insulation materials consisting of or containing dangerous substances

18 01 06*        Chemicals consisting of or containing dangerous substances

 

INERT WASTE

It’s waste which doesn’t undergo significant physical, chemical or biological changes. It doesn’t dissolve and burn so it doesn’t contaminate the environment and doesn’t endanger the health of people in their immediate surroundings.   

17 01 01          Concrete

17 01 02          Brick

17 01 03          Tiles and ceramics wastes

 

SAFE/NON HAZARDOUS WASTE

Every sort of waste which doesn’t have negative characteristics of dangerous waste falls into the category of non hazardous waste.

02 04 03          Sludges from on-site effluent treatment

05 01 14          Waste from cooling columns

06 13 03          Carbon black

09 01 08          Photographic film and paper free of silver or silver compounds

09 01 10          Single-use cameras without batteries

 

COMMUNAL WASTE

Waste originating exclusively in households or through production and service activities if it is the same as household waste by its content and properties.

There are differences in communal waste:

-household waste which is produced exclusively on a daily basis and is gathered accordingly.

-biodegradable waste which is produced from food items and garden waste which is a byproduct of agriculture and composting plant species.

20 03 01          Mixed communal waste

20 03 02          Waste from markets

20 03 03          Street cleaning residue

20 01 08          Biodegradable kitchen and canteen waste

 

PACKAGING WASTE

It originates exclusively through unpacking of products that are protected in transport. All sorts and shapes of plastic, cardboard, paper, boxes and glass bottles.

15 01 01          Paper and cardboard units

15 01 02          Plastic packaging

15 01 03          Wooden packaging

15 01 06          Mixed packaging

 

COMMERCIAL OR PRODUCTION WASTE

Is the sort of waste which is made in the production process, manufacturing and other processes? It is different from communal waste through its properties and content.

Residues of the production process which are used in the production process of the same producer are not considered production wastes.

 

16 01 03          End-of-life tires

13 01 09*        Mineral -chlorinated hydraulic oils

13 01 11*        Synthetic chlorinated oils

13 02 05*        Mineral based non-chlorinated engine, gear and lubricating oils

13 02 06*        Synthetic engine oils, gear and lubricating oils

 

INDUSTRIAL WASTE

Industry is the biggest producer of this kind of waste and industry zone locations are places where most hazardous waste can be found.

06 03 13*        Solid salts and solutions containing heavy metals

13 01 07*        Oil filters

16 01 14*        Antifreeze containing dangerous substances

16 02 15*        Hazardous components removed from discarded equipment

16 06 01*        Leaded batteries

13 01 11*        Synthetic hydraulic oils