Abstract
The paper presents the comparative analysis of the amount of waste generated in Ukraine and European countries (except for radioactive waste) based on the official EU and Ukrainian statistical data. The data on waste generation are compiled according to the following classification: by economic activity and household, waste category, grades of hazard, and regions. In Ukraine, 352.3 million tons of waste was generated in 2018. By 2018, almost 13 billion tons of waste had been accumulated at the managed dumpsites, including about 12 million tons of hazardous and over 200 million tons of household waste. In the European Union, 2.6 billion tons of waste was generated in 2018. Over 70% of it was generated by 10 countries: Germany, France, England, Poland, Romania, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Finland. By economic activity, the largest amounts of waste in Ukraine are generated by the mineral extraction and processing industry, the smallest – from water treatment and construction. In the EU countries, these values are somewhat different. For example, in Germany and France, the largest amounts of waste are generated from construction and manufacturing, the smallest – from agriculture, forestry and fishery. By waste category, the waste generated both in the EU countries and in Ukraine is mineral and solid waste. In Ukraine, the largest amounts of waste are produced and accumulated in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions which accommodate large enterprises for extraction and mineral processing of iron and manganese ores, titanium-zirconium placers, coal, dolomite, and metallurgical limestone, as well as metallurgical and ferroalloy plants.
Highlights
Rapid global economic growth at the end of the last millennium led to excessive use of non-renewable natural resources and increase of human impact on the environment
More than 70% of it was generated by 10 countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Finland [2]
As can be seen in the chart, the amount of waste generated by some European countries in 2018 in million tons was as follows: Germany - over 400, France - over 300, UK – about 280, Romania - about 200, Poland and Italy - more than 170, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden about 140, Finland - more than 120
Summary
Rapid global economic growth at the end of the last millennium led to excessive use of non-renewable natural resources and increase of human impact on the environment. In accordance with the national waste management programmes, the European Union and Ukraine make inventories of the waste generated both by economic sectors and households. In 2014–2017, Ukraine took initial important steps to change the situation through commitment of compliance with the EU Directives as a part of the Association Agreement with the EU and adopting the National Waste Management Strategy until 2030. The amount of waste generation in different countries varies depending on the economic activity and society’s production and consumption patterns. The largest amount of waste is generated in countries with developed mining and metallurgical industries. The three biggest economies – Germany, the United Kingdom and France – have the highest generation of waste in absolute figures, no direct link between economic production and waste generation is observed for all EU countries.
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