EFFECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS ON MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATION IN SERBIA

Waste management is one of the major challenges for developing countries. Increasing of global waste production is often addressed to population growth, intensive rural-urban migration, economic and social development. Awareness of these changes contributes to more realistic planning and investments in the municipal solid waste (MSW) management system. According to the literature age structure, average income, and the unemployment rate are important factors correlated with waste generation rate. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim to investigate if there is an effect of the socio-economic factors, such as age structure, income level, and unemployment on MSW generation in Serbia. Data were collected at the country level for the ten year period from 2008 to 2017. Correlation analysis was used to determine age group with largest contribution to MSW generation rate. Then, additional variables were included in multiple regression analysis (enter model), for further explanation of the impact that socio-economic factors have on waste generation rate. The results showed strong joint influence of the increasing number of working-age population, decreasing number of unemployed, as well as higher average monthly income on the dependent variable. More than 80% of the variation waste generation rate is explained by the model.