Packaging, Environment and Separate Waste Collection

The issue of raw material supply seems relatively less concerning than the issue of destroying the natural environment with waste, as the development of technology and past practice give hope for discovering substitutes for natural resources or replacing them with other, more widespread raw materials. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on technology to provide substitutes for the integrity of natural beauty and to increase the natural assimilation and regenerative capacity of the environment. All responses and comments were summarised in the research, and the obtained results were presented in tables and graphs. Slovenians are a civilised nation, which should not find it difficult to understand how and why it is necessary to reduce the quantity of waste.

Problem

The issue of raw material supply seems relatively less concerning than the issue of destroying the natural environment with waste, as the development of technology and past practice give hope for discovering substitutes for natural resources or replacing them with other, more widespread raw materials. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on technology to provide substitutes for the integrity of natural beauty and to increase the natural assimilation and regenerative capacity of the environment. In the countries of the European Community, and thus naturally also in Slovenia, the principle applies that the waste producer must take care of its reduction to the greatest possible extent themselves.

In other words, they must make an effort through the system of separate waste collection, methods or choice of purchasing food and other articles for their living needs, so that there is as little waste as possible and that their share in environmental pollution is as small as possible. The diploma thesis essentially addresses two extensive topics. The first is packaging, where we learn why it is necessary, what it is made of, its development through time and its impact on the environment itself.

Given that packaging has quite a considerable share amongst waste, in the second part we address the reduction of the waste share; one very important segment in this is separate waste collection. They focused on the municipality of Ruše. They conducted research on household satisfaction with collection points – ecological islands (EO), what they collect separately, how much they use the EO, the collection centre in the municipality and door-to-door waste collection.

Results

All responses and comments were summarised in the research, and the obtained results were presented in tables and graphs. Slovenians are a civilised nation, which should not find it difficult to understand how and why it is necessary to reduce the quantity of waste. In constant care for their environment, they are convinced that together they will do everything in their power to reduce the quantity of waste and thereby contribute to reduced pollution of their environment.