The” Zero Waste” concept in Serbia

The characteristics of the living environment in Serbia are, according to the level of degradation, similar in many aspects to those in high-industrialized countries, although there are many differences regarding to the industrial and urban development. Practically, Serbia has faced the critical ecological phenomena largely than it would be appropriate to the degree of its economic development. The problem of the environmental protection in Serbia has been for long out of the social policy focus. These problems have not been often realized because they have been left to individual and local initiatives and solved mostly by some regulations, but their application is not guaranteed by appropriate material conditions. The possibilities of applying the ‘zero waste concept’ in Serbia are conditioned by the strict hierarchical track of waste reduction according to the European waste directives and laws, i.e. the implementation of these provisions in our legal norms and, more important, carrying out these norms into effect.