Comparative Analysis of Serbian and European Legislation in the Area of Waste Management

Waste management, ecological consciousness and environmental protection have become increasingly topical issues ever since the beginning of the 21st century, and in favour of this claim is the fact that there is an increasing number of authors dealing with environmental law, as well the level of global ecological consciousness. The contemporary consumer society is characterized by the fact that it creates a plethora of different kinds of waste. The goal is to create a modern system of integrated waste management in order to encompass the cycle of manufacturing and consumption with a recycling process at the end of the consumer products lifespan. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the European legislation, as well as to analyse the Serbian legislation in the area of waste management. The European legislation on waste management is much older and far more developed than its Serbian counterpart, hence, it represents the foundation for future development of regulations in Serbia. The current waste management legislation in Serbia is largely based on the EU legislation, however, owing to the insufficiently matured and stable Serbian institutions, implementation of these regulations is below the expected level.