Cătălina ANCUȚA, Martin OLARU, Ramona IVAN IȘFĂNESCU & Ana IANĂȘ
West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Department of Geography, Blvd. V. Pârvan, no.4, Timișoara, 300223, Romania
ancuta.catalina@cbg.uvt.ro, martinolaru@yahoo.com, ramona_isf@yahoo.com, anaianas@yahoo.com

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLLUTION BY SOLID MUNICIPAL WASTE IN TIMIȘOARA CITY AND ITS SURROUNDING AREA

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Municipal solid waste collection is a serious environmental issue with various mitigation solutions, from technical to organizational ones, in view of an appropriate environmental behavior of the main actors. EU countries were early and dynamic at the heart of this issue, while Romania had to adopt and enforce such regulations after EU association and accession. The present article examines the recent evolutions in the municipal solid waste pollution in one of the greatest urban area of Romania - Timisoara city and its surroundings, defining of some environmental policies for a better collection and to reduce the general impact on population and economic activities. The analysis was based on the interviews applied to different representatives from the main institutions in the field and on 770 questionnaires applied to the population. The recent developments are positive: the overall amount of waste has decreased considerably, the amount of selectively collected waste has increased over 25 times (however, there is a high percentage of contaminated recyclable materials), a sorting station was built, the non-green landfill was closed, another European standards complying landfill was opened, a significant market for the recyclable materials has emerged. The analysis of questionnaires emphasizes that the indifference towards environmental values is high (25%) and awareness of the active role the public has to play is fairly low (31%). Attention should focus on cultivating an environmental behavior through mechanisms adapted to the social content of the studied area (involving mechanisms of financial rewarding for those who turn recyclables into uncontaminated form).