WASTE MANAGEMENT IN GREECE: FACTS AND LEGAL ISSUES

There are more than one thousand unauthorized dumping sites in Greece. The absence of organized facilities, the widespread and fierce social opposition to the creation of legally authorized landfill sites, poorly drafted administrative procedures that will more than likely lead to condemnation by the courts, and an imperfect and cumbersome legal framework in relation to waste management all mean this is one of the fields in which the country has one of the poorest records in its environment policy.

A brief but necessary examination of the facts surrounding waste and basic waste management law provision in Greece, with an overview of the transportation of Council Directive 75/442 as amended into national law will be presented. An outline of national approach to recovery mechanisms also will be presented in this paper.