• Energy Research

This chapter aims to reveal the geographies of ewaste flows at global and national levels based on waste statistics data and thematic cartography. WEEE management practices are examined for each major geographical area respectively: Europe, North America, Latin America and Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Pollution and public health threats associated with improper ewaste management practices is a crucial environmental issue, particularly in emerging economies. Generation, collection, treatment, recycling and recovery activities of WEEE fraction are analyzed within each geographical area. The role formal and informal sector is further investigated pointing out the gaps and different prospects in development of sustainable ewaste management systems across developing and developed countries.

The exposure of rural communities to illegal waste dumping practices associated with the lack of or poor waste collection schemes prior to the closure of rural dumpsites under EU regulations and the role of collection efficiency afterward in reducing this critical environmental threat constitutes a key issue in rural Romania. The present study reveals huge amounts of household uncollected waste released into the natural environment outside the official statistics of rural dumpsites. Despite the expansion of waste collection coverage towards rural areas since 2010, the problem of illegal dumping practice is difficult to solve. The improvement of collection efficiency, better law enforcement, and surveillance of environmental authorities coupled with educational and environmental awareness are necessary steps to combat this bad practice. A circular economy paradigm must be enacted in rural regions through separate collection schemes and to improve cost-efficient alternatives, such as home composting, and traditional and creative reuse practices, particularly in less developed regions.

The increasingly tensions rising between society’s need for resources and space on the one hand, and the capacity of the land to support these needs on the other hand lead to unprecedented changes in landscape configuration, and hence, to the environment. This paper analyzes changes in the agricultural landscape of Podoleni, Neamt County, Romania, in spatio - temporal terms, as a result of the modernization of the ground processing techniques, types of crops, and the degree of fragmentation of land parcels. The study was conducted using Geographical Information Systems techniques, the main materials used in the analysis are topographic maps from different representative periods, and the 2006 orthophotomaps. Application of GIS techniques at a detailed scale (1:5000) allows an efficient management of land use for local authorities. The results highlight the optimal management of agricultural land so as to maintain a balance between their basic function (food needs) and preservation of nature (landscape, environment).

Urban waste generation due to economic development and living standards raise serious problems in providing sustainable waste management of cities. Because not all of Romania's urban population are served by sanitation services, some wastes are generated and uncollected being often uncontrolled disposed contributing to urban pollution. This paper aims on the one hand one to estimate the amount of urban waste generated and uncollected and on the other hand to perform a spatial analysis of these wastes at the Romanian counties level using thematic cartography. Outlined regional disparities allows a more accurate assessment of the vulnerability of cities to waste pollution. Total urban population access to waste collection services is a basic condition for developing an efficient waste management system and to reduce pollution. The current urban waste management system must improve to comply objectives and targets imposed by the EU acquis.

The paper performs a critical overview concerning the construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management issues in Romania. Five main stages related to C&DW management are highlighted such as: (i) illegal dumping on public lands; (ii) C&DW collection and disposal in urban landfills; (iii) C&DW treatment and reuse in civil constructions (roads, coating material for landfills); (iv) regional integrated waste management systems; (v) recycling of building materials (e.g., cement industry and recycled aggregates). The paper reveals the poor monitoring of C&DW flows across Romanian counties and the geographical dimension of this waste stream collected by waste operators. The paper examines the current challenges in Romania and it reveals the future prospects to provide a reliable transition towards sustainable C&DW management activities. The targeted route: waste fractions can be recycled and/or reused as building materials via integrated waste management systems, which enable a circular economy in urban and rural municipalities.