Sustainable management of waste-to-energy in Republic of Srpska

Republic of Srpska (RS) is one of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It is located in South-eastern Europe, in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. As in most developing countries, waste management is based on landfilling. The constant increase in waste generation creates a growing burden on the existing waste management system and the environment. Comparing the amount of waste with GDP, despite a much lower standard, RS/BiH residents, compared to EU residents, generate far more waste for the same amount of money. All generated waste is disposed of in landfills, which causes greenhouse gas emissions and has a negative effect on the environment. On the other side, untreated waste deposited in landfills represents the loss of potential of waste as a renewable energy source. In this study, an attempt has been made to represent the possibilities of sustainable waste-to-energy management in RS with the goal to provide reliable support to decision makers to direct waste management in a sustainable framework.