CONCLUSIONS

Data availability is far from meeting the acquis requirements. It is, however, evident that in the majority of CEECs the data is collected on an annual basis, which is necessary when implementing and assessing policies and measures, effectiveness of economic instruments, monitoring hazardous waste, etc. The most incomplete data is on landfills, incinerators and other disposal installations. The EU accession process is probably the major driving force for the improvement of statistical and monitoring systems.

We would like to stress that a lack of reliable data and information may cause serious problems in the area of “EU reporting” pursuant to Directive 91/692/EEC,²³which obliges the EU members to report regularly on implementation of major waste directives in three-year periods. Aware of the problem, the MoE of the Czech Republic is preparing quality objec-tives and a quality management system (QA/QC) that would meet the requirements of the EU reporting system. In some CEECs, Phare or bilateral projects should be launched to strengthen waste statistical and reporting systems.

TABLE 4

Information on Hazardous Waste Generation and Disposal

Country Type of provided data Availability of information Bulgaria Amount generated and landfilled 1996, 1997, 1998

Czech Republic Amount of waste generated, landfilled, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 incinerated and disposed of in other ways

Estonia Amount of waste generated, landfilled, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 incinerated and disposed of in other ways

Hungary Generated, landfilled and incinerated amount 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

Latvia Generated amount only 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999

Lithuania Generated amount only 1995, 1996,1997, 1998, 1999 Poland Amount of waste generated, landfilled, 1995, 1996,1997, 1998, 1999

incinerated and disposed of in other ways

Romania Amount generated and landfilled 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Slovakia Amount of waste generated, landfilled, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

incinerated and disposed of in other ways (Data from two sources)

Slovenia Generated, landfilled, incinerated 1990, 1995 and exported amount

TABLE 5

Information on Hazardous Waste Landfills

Landfills more than 10 t/day

Country Number of landfills or more than 25,000 t capacity Details provided

Bulgaria 0 0 n.a.

Czech Republic 46 23 Capacity, annual intake,

permitting year, expected phase out

Estonia 1 1 Permitting year

Hungary 1 n.a. Capacity

Latvia 0 0 n.a.

Lithuania 1 (under construction) 1 Capacity, investment value

Poland 68 1 Annual intake,

permitting year, type of received waste, disposal charge

Romania 83 39 Capacity, annual intake,

type of received waste, expected phase out

Slovakia n.a. n.a. n.a.

Slovenia 0 0 n.a.

TABLE 6

Information on Hazardous Waste Incinerators

Country Number of incinerators Incinerators more than 10 t/day Provided details

Bulgaria 11 0 8 for hospital waste,

3 large incinerators for industrial waste

Czech Republic 67 14 Capacity, permitting year

Estonia 1 0 None

Hungary 7 Capacity

Latvia 0 0

Lithuania 0 0 n.a.

Poland 73 4 Annual intake,

13 industrial waste disposal fee, permitting year 60 hospital waste

Romania 3 3 Capacity, annual intake,

permitting year, received waste, cost of investment

Slovakia 69 8 Capacity, annual intake,

30 industrial waste permitting year,

39 hospital waste technology used

Slovenia 1 Capacity, annual intake,

permitting year, expected phase out, disposal fee

Permits to operators of industrial and disposal facilities (including IPPC permits²⁴) and their obligatory reports laid down by national legislation should be used in the short-term as a major source of data and information on large waste generators, landfills and disposal installations. This will require uniform electronic formats of permits and reports to make revi-sions and updates of databases easier. The use of traditional “paper forms” combined with decentralized permitting (e.g. to the tune of 78 districts and municipalities in the Czech Republic) makes the transfer and validation of data laborious.

The same improvement should apply to cross-border movement of hazardous waste (Basel Convention) to make the cooperation between European countries easier. The abili-ty to trace the national transportation of hazardous waste from primary generators to final disposal or reprocessing must also be improved to prevent illegal practices. Such an infor-mation system should be based upon a database of permits involving a generator, collector, transporting company and operator of the disposal/reprocessing facility. The inspection authorities should have immediate access to the database.

There is limited information on data validation or verification procedures and/or data quality objectives adopted by CEECs governments or relevant agencies. The US EPA²⁵defines data verification and validation in the following way:

• Data Verification means a consistent, systematic process that determines whether the data has been collected with respect to compliance, correctness, consistency, and com-pleteness as compared to a predefined quality standard.

• Data Validation means an evaluation of the technical usability of the verified data with respect to the planned objectives, e.g. use for planning and monitoring purposes. In addi-tion, data validation can provide a level of overall confidence in the reporting of the data.

• Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) are defined as qualitative and quantitative state-ments regarding the design and management of appropriate collection and use of data.

DQOs define the data to be collected, determine the most appropriate condition from which to collect the data, and specify the criteria that define the quality and quantity of the data to be collected.

Using data of unknown quality increases the probability and magnitude of decision-mak-ing errors if the data is used for purposes such as strategic planndecision-mak-ing, investment decisions, compliance assessment, enforcement and penalisation. There are decision-making tech-niques available that take into account uncertainties of input data or information²⁶that should be employed by waste management strategic planners in CEECs.

Before the data is used, data quality assessment (DQA) should be carried out as a process that employs statistical methods to determine whether a set of data will support a particular deci-sion with an acceptable level of confidence. The Project team has not received any information from individual CEECs on how the problem of data quality will be tackled in coming years.

Waste generation is the result of the overall economic activities in individual countries (national economies). Municipal waste generation depends on the consumption patterns and living standards of individual populations (consumption wastes). Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes are mainly generated by industries (production wastes).

Besides those broad waste categories there are several specific waste streams related more specifically to production and consumption, such as batteries and accumulators, tyres, waste oils, packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, electric and electronic waste, etc. These waste streams deserve special attention and regulation (application of the producer respon-sibility principle).

This study mainly analyses the use of economic and information instruments besides traditional legal instruments used broadly in CEECs. Before discussing the applicability of economic instruments in waste management of CEECs, a concise description of the current situation and possible trends was attempted. This was based on the collected data and information. As the following paragraphs show, the quality of the basic data available allowed neither a detailed analysis of the situation nor any sound prognosis based upon socio-economic models.²⁷

The Project team used the current situation in EU member states and OECD countries as a benchmark since CEECs mainly differ from EU and OECD members with respect to the development of their information base, strategic planning, regulatory procedures and dis-posal capacities (installations). Generally speaking, the majority of CEECs face the same problems the OECD countries were tackling some 10-15 years ago. The authors of this study feel that there is a strong convergence between those two broad groups of developed economies and that the development trajectory of CEECs follows that of the OECD countries in many aspects.²⁸