development report 2012 - UMAR

Development Report 2012
Development by the priorities of SDS – Integration of measures to achieve sustainable development
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municipal waste management, but Slovenia is still far
from achieving the targets set for 2012 269 . In managing
waste from production and service activities, relatively
favourable trends continued in 2010, since most of this
waste (approx. 80%) 270 was recovered. After a longer
period of increased quantities of waste generated by
these activities, their volumes decreased under the
impact of the economic crisis in 2009 and 2010. In 2010
almost 90% of the waste generated by production and
service activities was in three sectors: the construction
sector (31.3%), electricity, gas and steam supply
(28.1%), and manufacturing industries (28.0%). During
the period 2005–2010, the pressure increasing the
quantities of industrial waste was produced particularly
by construction and demolition waste. During the
period under analysis, such waste increased by almost
40%. Despite a considerable reduction in construction
activities, the waste from these activities also rose in
2010. Although construction waste has high recycling
potential, less than half of the waste generated was
recovered in this manner 271 . Reused, not-landfilled, waste
reduces the pressures on the environment by providing
space for landfill. Waste is also an important source of
secondary raw materials and their recovery also reduces
the pressure on the use of these natural resources. The
increasing prices of raw materials on the world markets
serve as an incentive for better use of secondary raw
materials from waste, and tax instruments may also have
Figure 23: Municipal waste per inhabitant in Slovenia and
the EU
In kg per inhabitant
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Municipal waste generated
Municipal waste landfilled
2005 2006 2007 2008
Slovenia
2009 2010 2010
EU
Source: SI-STAT data portal – Environment, 2012; Eurostat Portal page – Environment,
2012.
269
At least 65% of the generated municipal waste should be
included in pre-disposal procedures and at least 42% should be
recycled (the goal of the Resolution on National Environmental
Action Plan 2005–2012).
270
Source: ARSO, 2012. In waste generated by production and
service activities, Slovenia has already achieved 65% of the goal
set by the Resolution on the National Environment Protection
Programme 2005–2012.
271
Source: SORS, 2012.
a significant impact on the reduction of environmental
burdens. In Slovenia, the landfill tax is among the lowest
in the EU 272 ; moreover, certain states use additional tax
instruments to encourage the reuse of raw materials 273 .
The Slovenian economy’s material productivity is low,
but increased considerably on account of lower activity
in the construction sector in recent years. Material
productivity is one of the key indicators of sustainable
development and represents the relationship between
GDP and materials used in a particular country 274 . In
Slovenia, material productivity in 2009 275 was at 75% of
the EU average, and in comparison with 2005, the gap
to the EU average was not reduced (this difference is
even higher than for labour productivity). Slovenia’s
low material productivity at the economy-wide level
was also confirmed by an analysis based on supply and
use tables, which indicates that Slovenia has an aboveaverage
share of raw material costs 276 . This is partly a
consequence of its economic structure, which is more
based on activities involving a large use of materials than
in other EU Member States; moreover, the share of costs
is also above the average in the majority of comparable
industries, which indicates a less efficient use of raw
materials. The inefficient use of raw materials causes
pressure on the aforementioned natural resources and
may have a significant impact on competitiveness,
particularly on export-oriented manufacturing
industries; the difference to the EU is at its greatest in
certain more high-tech manufacturing industries. Large
use of raw materials is also recorded in those industries
that are mainly oriented towards the domestic market
(e.g. agriculture, the construction industry), whereas
the common indicator of material productivity oscillates
greatly, depending on the use of non-metal minerals 277 .
Therefore, during the period observed, material
productivity was lowest in 2006 and 2007, which was
also a result of high construction sector activity, and
was additionally stimulated by the completion of the
272
Among 16 analysed EU Member States, only three had lower
tax rate than Slovenia (in EUR per tonne of landfilled waste).
The highest was in Netherlands and was almost by ten times
higher than in Slovenia (data from the OECD Environmental
Performance Review: Slovenia, 2012).
273
Such case is »duty on raw materials« in Denmark and »levy on
aggregate production« in the United Kingdom (adapted from
the OECD Environmental Performance Review: Slovenia, 2012).
274
GDP/DMC. Domestic material consumption (DMC) is defined
as exploitation of domestic raw materials, plus net import of
materials (import – export of materials).
275
The latest internationally comparable data where the GDP is
expressed in purchasing power standards (Source: Eurostat).
276
According to Eurostat latest internationally comparable data,
in 2007 the share of raw materials in relation to the value of
production was estimated at 11.5% in Slovenia and at 6.7% in
the EU. Above average was also the share of the use of materials
according to the wider definition, which also includes semiproducts
and final products for the purpose of intermediate
consumption (Slovenia: 34.4%, EU: 22.3%).
277
This mainly applies to the use of sand and gravel.