This master's thesis examines an increasingly pressing issue in Slovenia: waste management, more precisely, waste management in the municipality of Dravograd. The thesis first presents waste, then the accompanying European and Slovene legislation in the field of waste management and finally waste management in Slovenia. It goes on to present the Dravograd Public Utility for waste collection and management and the Kocerod Public Utility – a Carinthian waste management centre – for waste processing. For the purpose of this master's thesis, a survey was conducted among the residents of Dravograd; the majority of the thesis is hence dedicated to the analysis of the survey and to the presentation of the residents' degree of awareness about waste management and separation at the place of origin, which is very important for further waste processing. In the end, some alternative solutions are described.
The main finding of the research examining the importance of waste management is that waste producers must be aware of the importance of waste separation at the place of origin. Households produce the majority of wet or mixed municipal waste, which is not sufficiently separated at the place of origin. Until recently, the Carinthian waste management system had always been different from this type of systems elsewhere in Slovenia. Their waste collection system was based solely on the separation of wet and dry fractions at the place of origin. Residents of the municipality of Dravograd have enough theoretical knowledge on waste separation at the place of origin, but they still do not pay enough attention to how they separate waste. All households must consistently separate waste at the place of origin and place it in appropriate containers or the selected assembly centres in accordance with the received instructions. All household waste must first be appropriately processed to ensure than only a small amount of it will end up in a landfill. Effective waste management can substantially contribute to an effective use of sources, which are essential to meet the needs of our society and to ensure further development.
|