Abstract
Waste management in Georgia is a largely neglected field of environmental management. Since neither a comprehensive waste management system nor a co-ordinating authority existed in the Soviet times, it has been usual pract ice to dispose of waste without due consideration for environmental protection. Municipal waste was frequently mixed with industrial waste for disposal, and disposal of hazardous waste from hospitals, military and radioactive installat ions and other sources was largely unregulated. At present legal landfill s operate under minimal standard requirements. Also, because urban waste collection system s are barely functional, there are many illegal dumping sites. Known waste disposal sites for hazardous waste are overloaded, and generally they are not adequately isolated for environmental protection. In short, environmental impacts of uncontrolled disposal of solid waste in Georgia are enormous, but the effects are virtually unknown at present.
In 1992, when the econom y began to collapse, the total amount of solid waste generated in the country was in excess of 60 million tonnes, of which 70 percent was industrial waste . No reliable inventory is maintained at present. According to some estimates 1.3 million tonnes of hazardous wastes have accumulated throughout the country. Although most of the ‘hot-spots’ are known, at present it is not possible to make any impro vement due to lack of financial resources.
Uncontrolled and missing radioacti ve wastes are another problem that has already caused damage to human health . Former Soviet military bases are the cause of even more serious problems. In 1997 nine servicemen from a training detachment near Tbilisi developed local radiation-induced skin diseases in various parts of their bodies . An investigation revealed several Cs-137 and Co-60 radiation sources. In November 1998 a Government Commission was established under the authority of the Georgian Ministry of the Environment to inspect all such bases . Some radioactive sources have already been detected in those bases.
As there is no operational site in Georgia to treat radioactive waste, 800g of burnt nuclear fuel from the Atomic Research Centre near Tbilisi (which was decommissioned ten years ago) were taken out of the country for treatment with the assistance of the governments of the USA and the UK.
In general, trans-boundary movement of chemical substances and wastes also needs to be addressed and regulated. The Ministry of Environment is officially responsible for their control, but because of financial constraints and unclear responsibilities there are great difficulties in carrying out even the basic preliminary activities. The Basel Convention came into force in Georgia on 18 August, 1999.
Formulation of Georgia’s Waste Management Law is posing important problems. Dealing with large gaps in existing Environmental Legislation on waste is considered to be of top priority . At present it is being developed, and hopefully it will incorporate the EU and Basel Conventions including relevant requirements and standards.
Georgia’s National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) has been prepared . Among the environmental priorities identified in the NEAP is the need for strengthening the capacity for monitoring and implementing environmental legislation. There is however a need, it is felt, to streamline the legislation dealing with waste issues as well as to develop policies and institutional arrangements for assessing and monitoring environmental impacts caused by poor waste management. Strengthening of the legal framework should improve environmental management and at the same time reduce environment impacts. This is especially so in the environmentally risky waste disposal sectors that have great potential for attracting foreign investment to Georgia.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Tzereteli, M., Tetvadze, T. (2000). Prospects For Sustainable Waste Management In Georgia. In: Nath, B. (eds) Sustainable Solid Waste Management in the Southern Black Sea Region. NATO Science Series, vol 75. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0940-9_24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0940-9_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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