Waste management in Czech Republic

General characteristics of the Czech Republic:
The Czech Republic is an inland country with the area of 78 866 km2 (21st largest in Europe) and a population of about 10,2 millions (as of December 31, 2001). According to the system of statistical territorial classification used in EU, the Czech Republic is divided into 8 NUTS 2 units and 14 NUTS 3 units. There is a total of 6 258 municipalities in the Czech Republic while 54 % of the population lives in towns and cities with over 10 000 inhabitants. The Czech economy as a whole has undergone a substantial structural change during the last decade. The contribution of agriculture and industry to creation of the gross domestic product (hereinafter “GDP”) has decreased with a simultaneous increase in the contribution of the service sector. The Czech Republic is considered to be a country with a functional open market economy. The contribution of the non-governmental sector to creation of GDP equaled 80 % in 1997 and has further grown. The main structural change in the Czech economy consists in an increase in the volume of services which contribute to creation of GDP by approx. 50 %, at the expense of the production sector.

Development of planning in the area of waste management in CR

1991:
The first Act on Waste in the territory of the Czech Republic entered into effect, imposing on waste generators the duty to draw up waste management programs. This duty applied to some business entities and municipalities (according to the limit of waste production), districts and the state. Data collected within the waste management programs of waste generators were the basis for drawing up waste management programs of the given municipality and subsequently of the individual districts and the state.

1998:
The new Act on Waste, stipulating the duty to draw up the Waste Management Conception of the Czech Republic, entered into effect on January 1. This fact corresponded with the decision of the Czech Republic, made in 1996, to apply for accession to EU, where an EC Directive already imposed on the member countries the duty to draw up plans in the area of waste management.

1999:
The Waste Management Conception of the Czech Republic was drawn up and work was commenced on Regional Waste Management Conceptions (hereinafter “RWMC”) intended as basic documents for drawing up WMP CR and regional waste management plans (hereinafter “regional WMP”).

2003:
On July 1, Government Regulation No. 197/2003 Coll., on Waste Management Plan of the Czech Republic entered into effect, facilitating the process leading to sustainable waste management.

Evaluation of the network of waste management facilities
The scope of registration of waste management facilities (hereinafter “facilities”) valid until the year 2001 pursuant to Act No. 125/1997 Coll. no longer corresponded to the current needs. Inadequate database of individual facilities provided insufficient basic information for determining specific measures within the binding part of WMP CR. Act No. 185/2001 Coll., which entered into effect on January 1, 2002 imposed duties on operators of all facilities, on the basis of which the database will be supplemented and utilized in updating WMP CR.

Landfilling of waste:
Landfilling of waste remains the most frequent manner of disposal of waste. The overall capacity of landfills, both for municipal waste and for other types of waste, including hazardous, is adequate for the near future. A majority of landfills of hazardous waste have been created in the vicinity of major enterprises. This led to their relatively unbalanced distribution over the territory of the Czech Republic. Some generators of hazardous waste are thus placed at a disadvantage in providing for disposal of their hazardous waste. Landfills of other waste have been created predominantly in the vicinity of settlements and thus their distribution is suitable, with several exceptions. According to a survey performed in 2002, a total of 229 landfills, i.e. 61 % of the overall number of 352 monitored landfills will not comply with the  standards laid down in Directive 99/31/EC as of 2009. The number of facilities intended for landfilling waste has been decreasing since 1991.

Biologically degradable municipal waste
In 1995, each inhabitant of the Czech Republic produced, on average, 148 kg of biologically degradable municipal waste (hereinafter “BDMP”) and the overall production of BDMP in the Czech Republic equaled 1 530 000 tons in 1995. One of the means of achieving the required decrease in the amount of waste deposited in landfills consists in the introduction of a system of separation and subsequent recovery of BDMP.

Incineration of waste:
Incinerators have been created similarly to landfills of hazardous waste, depending on the location of individual generators, especially in the sector of chemical industry. This has led to their relatively unbalanced distribution over the territory of the Czech Republic. In 2001, the WMIS database registered 3 incinerators of municipal waste and 67 incinerators of hazardous waste; operations have ceased in 6 of them. In addition to incineration of waste in special incinerators, waste was also incinerated in 2002 in 4 cement factories. A continuing issue is related to uncontrolled incineration of waste oils in small boilers, in particular by generators of these oils. This issue was resolved by new Act No. 86/2002 Coll., on protection of the air and on amendment to some other laws (hereinafter the “Act on protection of the air”) which prohibits such incineration.

Incinerators of municipal waste:
At the present time, 3 incinerators of municipal waste are operated in the Czech Republic. These incinerators are located in highly populated agglomerations; however, given their high capacity (310 kt p.a., 240 kt p.a. and 96 kt p.a., respectively) the areas served by these incinerators substantially exceed the territories of these agglomerations. 383.3 kt of waste was incinerated in incinerators of municipal waste in 2001, corresponding to 59.3 % of their designed capacity. These incinerators must comply with the emission limit values and other preconditions for operation pursuant to the Act on protection of the air.

Incinerators of hazardous waste:
Hazardous wastes and wastes from the health care sector are incinerated in incinerators of hazardous waste. A total of 67 incinerators of hazardous waste were operated in the Czech Republic in 2001 with a designed capacity of 113 000 tons p.a. The number of incinerators of hazardous waste has been decreasing and will further decrease, as a majority of these incinerators do not comply with the new requirements of the Act on protection of the air. According to the latest survey performed at the beginning of 2003, only 45 incinerators of hazardous waste remain in operation. About 83 000 tons of hazardous wastes were disposed of by incineration in 2002. Operational costs of incinerators of municipal and hazardous waste are relatively high (compared to both landfilling and other techniques). Therefore, wastes from specific generators (hospital waste, waste from chemical production) are predominantly incinerated in incinerators of hazardous waste. Operators of the above facilities are usually also important (sometimes sole) generators of wastes that are incinerated in the given facility. Waste management balances also include combustion facilities that indirectly fall within this category. These include facilities that also burn alternative (certified) fuels produced from wastes. These facilities include energy blocks, heating plants, etc.

Treatment and/or recovery of waste using biological methods:

Biological decontamination
Development of biological decontamination technologies in the Czech Republic is connected mainly with remediation of environmental burdens from the past (usually financed by the National Property Fund). A majority of current facilities deal with degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. Degradation of halogenated hydrocarbons is less frequent. 48 facilities providing for biological decontamination were registered in the WMIP database in 2001. Their distribution is relatively balanced and corresponds to the localities of waste generation. Given the relatively low investment costs (decontamination facilities are often established at former agricultural premises that are safeguarded from the viewpoint of water management), such facilities may be built in the vicinity of existing pollution, as required.

Anaerobic decomposition and composting
4 facilities utilizing anaerobic decomposition with an operational capacity of 49 000 tons and 18 composting facilities with a capacity of 245 000 tons were registered in the WMIP database in 2001 (the number of composting facilities is underestimated, as there was no duty to register these facilities).

Treatment and/or recovery of waste using physical and chemical procedures:
49 facilities were registered in the WMIP database in this category in 2001. Technologies used in this relation, that are classified in this category, represent a very large variety of facilities. The registered facilities include facilities for separation of liquids (filtration facilities), membrane separation units, centrifuges, evaporators, drying units, etc., as well as facilities intended for management of metal waste, e.g. hydraulic shears, railway track breakers, etc.

Solidification – used for treatment of solid and liquid wastes. 8 facilities with a designed capacity of 67 000 tons p.a. were registered in the WMIP database in 2001. It is difficult to determine realistically the current capacity given the different requirements for treatment of various wastes. The distribution of facilities is substantially unbalanced. Given the fact that ashes from incinerators of municipal waste and hazardous waste may be deposited in single-kind landfills only after their stabilization, the current number and distribution of these facilities is inadequate.

Recovery – 16 facilities of this type were registered in the WMIP database in 2001; these facilities are divided according to the type of technology used for recovery of solvents and recovery of oils. Facilities that are registered in the WMIP database as facilities for oil recovery usually manage transformer waste oils and, given the expensiveness of other manners of management, they also provide for recovery of halogenated solvents.

Separation – five facilities providing for separation of municipal waste are registered in the WMIP database (the actual number of these facilities is estimated at 30). These facilities usually include separation tables where waste is placed on a moving conveyor belt and where the employees separate it by hand. The separated components are recovered and the residual waste is usually disposed of by landfilling. The WMIP also includes three separation lines in this category, providing for final separation of recyclable waste. The actual number of lines is substantially higher and their number and use is continually increasing;

Recovery of waste as secondary raw materials and recycling thereof equaled 37.5 % of the overall production of waste in 2001. Metal wastes (ferrous and non-ferrous) are predominantly recovered, while certain metal-bearing wastes are used to a lesser degree. Plastic, glass, paper and construction wastes are also recovered, and the volume of ash from power plants recovered in construction industry has also increased. 42 facilities were registered in the WMIP database in this category in 2001. The registered facilities can be roughly divided into facilities managing construction waste and facilities obtaining metals from waste. Construction materials are most frequently recycled with the use of mobile units. This category also includes facilities for recycling of mineral components of construction waste whose current capacity is not fully utilized. According to the official records of wastes, the annual production of construction and demolition waste in the Czech Republic is about 8 000 000 tons, of which 62 % consists of extracted soil; approx. 30 % of construction and demolition wastes are processed and recovered and approx. 65 % are used in reclaiming of excavated spaces or in terrain modifications.

Source: Waste Management Plan of CR (2003)