Despre gunoiul ascuns sub preș: câteva gânduri critice legate de serviciul public de salubrizare
About the garbage hidden under the mat: some critical thoughts on public sanitation

Summary/Abstract: In the context of an ever growing interest upon environmental protection issue, the study comprises an analyze of the organization and the effectiveness of the public sanitation services both at a union and a national level, starting from the premises of the two dedicated principles: the priority of selective waste collection and the principle „Pay-as-you-throw”, a practical application of a more general „the polluter pays” principle. Both of these are going to be analyzed from a double perspective: the EU Law (Directive 2008/98/EC) and EU recommendations, on one side, the national law (Law no. 51/2006 of community services of public utilities, GEO no. 92/2021 regarding the waste regime, Law no. 101/2006 of the public sanitation services, Framework Regulation of the public sanitation services etc.), on the other. As this study will show, EU and national law are abundant in regulations determining and detailing these two principles: thus, the theory seems to be clear. These principles are no longer that clear when it comes to their concrete application, due to the lack of detailed rules. The selective waste collection remains, in fact, a simple wish, mostly because the users of the public sanitation service have not received previous proper instruction in this regard, as there are no concrete rules related to how to classify a waste into one of the paper/plastic and metal/glass/biodegradable categories. But also „The polluter pays” principle is rather an illusion than a reality; even though national laws force its implementation, there are plenty of hurdles in applying it: the inadequate use of the available instruments that determines the waste produced by each individual, or to the difficulties related to condominiums. The article focuses on the analysis of all of these acute issues, taking into account two factual examples – waste management in the Metropolitan Area of Cluj and Bucharest, – proposing solutions attempting to ease the implementation of these two key principles concerning public sanitation services.

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