International Journal of Waste Resources

Abstract

Importance of Municipal Waste Data Reliability in Decision Making Process Using LCA Model- Case Study Conducted in Timok County (Serbia)

Hristina Stevanovic Carapina, Jasna Stepanov, Dunja C Prokic, Ljiljana Lj Curcic, Natasa V Zugic and Andjelka N Mihajlov

Municipal waste management is one of the priorities of environmental management in all countries that are members of the EU and also in the Republic of Serbia, which started the EU Accession Negotiations Process. In the Republic of Serbia, environmental protection, especially municipal waste management, is acknowledged as one of the most demanding and the most complex chapters when it comes to approximation of legislation, investments needed and adopting technologies necessary to reach EU standards. The National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS, 2003) in Serbia has identified the lack of data on composition and quantities of municipal waste generated across the country.
This paper deals with analysis of municipal waste data available in various national and regional reports for the Timok County, using LCA model. The main goal of this paper is to indicate importance of quality data in order to make the right decisions in waste management. The application of data analysis to the evaluation of life cycle solid waste management system in the municipalities of Zajecar, Boljevac, Knjazevac, Majdanpek, Kladovo, Negotin and Bor (Timok County, Serbia) is an innovative approach to this problem, necessary to make the right, professional decisions in the field of waste management. Results indicate that prerequisite for the implementation of a waste management system is reliability data on a national and local level.