Rural waste management: challenges and issues in Romania

Liviu Apostol (1) , Florin Constantin Mihai (1)

1 UAIC - Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași = Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iași

Rural areas of the new EU Member States face serious problems in compliance of EU regulation on waste management. Firstly, the share of rural population is higher and it has lower living standards and secondly, the waste collection services are poorly-developed covering some rural regions. In this context, open dumping is used as an appropriate waste disposal solution generating complex pollution. This paper analyzes the disparities between Romanian counties regarding the rural population access to waste collection services in 2008 which reflects the geographical distribution of rural dumpsites in 2009. It examines on one hand , the role of waste management services to reduce illegal dumping and on the other hand, the dysfunctions of traditional waste management system from rural areas and their implications on local environment.

Mots clés: sanitation services.; EU acquis; dumpsites; rural areas

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Etudes de l'environnement; Géographie; Sciences de l'environnement; Gestion et management; Environnement et Société; Ingénierie de l'environnement; Ecologie, Environnement; Santé; Sociologie

Liviu Apostol, Florin Constantin Mihai. Rural waste management: challenges and issues in Romania. Present Environment and Sustainable Development, 2012, 6 (2), pp.105-114. ⟨hal-01150920⟩