Administrative practices in urban waste management

Both at the international and national level the continuous pressure to enhance sustainability in the area of municipal waste management is the key element of all the policies implemented by the waste management associations. In recognition of the importance of measures towards waste reduction, re-utilisation, recycling and recovery (the four R approach of the European policies), the Association of Local Authorities of Greater Thessaloniki has made particular efforts, during the past years, to develop a mechanism based mainly on the "polluter-pays" principle, encouraging the prevention of the generation of municipal wastes, and at the same time, ensuring, the further environmental viability of the single sanitary landfill of Thessaloniki and extending its lifetime by slowing down the depletion of its limited overall capacity. In addition to this important principle and given the increase of the administrative, operational and managerial cost of waste disposal, recently a different administrative practice has been adopted. This practice aims at: a) the readjustment of charges by type of waste that is based on an analytical study of the qualitative and quantitative waste characteristics for the past 5 years, b) the motivation of waste generators to reduce the quantity of residual waste by setting financial incentives through a variable pricing model - promoting in the meantime the reutilization and recycling of the products - c) and last, but not least, it aims at a continuous monitoring and control process mainly for the waste generated by commercial and industrial activities. This paper will analyze the overall methodology used as a practice, the financial and environmental benefits resulting from the new policy, the problems and difficulties that derive from the implementation of this monitoring and charging mechanism and the perspectives for the further optimization of the solid waste management in the area of Greater Thessaloniki in the context of sustainability.