THE POTENTIALS FOR BIO WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MACEDONIA

Waste management is still one of the biggest environmental problems in Macedonia. Within this framework, bio waste is an extremely serious problem. The developed system of bio waste management can substantially improve the protection of the environment. Macedonia as a candidate state for membership of the EU has an obligation to follow the Unions’ standards and to limit the quantity of bio waste on the landfills. Besides of that, land filling of bio waste is almost the only solution. The situation is more alarming taking into consideration that from 54 landfills, there is only one, that meets some contemporary environmental standards. Although the bio waste significantly contributes in the total amount of waste, there are no any positive results in the modernization of bio waste treatment. There were realized some projects for composting, mainly supported by foreign donors, but shortly after the completion of the projects the composting has stopped. The commitment to the intensive treatment of bio waste, stipulated in the strategic documents and legislation remain unrealized. The main goal of this paper is to analyze and to research possibilities for development of bio waste management in Macedonia and through the SWOT analysis determines the obstacles and potentials for its development. The paper also makes efforts to stimulate further researches in this area and to give some recommendations for further activities.