Some 186 million tonnes of waste are produced annually in the Czech Republic, and like other countries of Central Europe, current levels of recycling are typically low. However, new waste legislation passed earlier this year in May will offer tax breaks, subsidies and other incentives to companies minimizing their waste levels from 1 January 1998. The new law will also encourage others, through stricter fees and fines for waste disposal, to consider more environmentally friendly means such as reuse and recycling and the use of environmentally friendly technologies including separation and treatment. Specifically, fines for the illegal dumping of hazardous waste are to rise from January 1, 1998 from 3 million crowns to 30 million crowns (USD 875,000), the highest known established fines in the environmental field in the Czech Republic. Interestingly, fines are also to be levied against citizens who do not abide by local authority measures to recycle and reuse waste (through the use of paper, glass, and plastics collection bins). The new law will further adapt the system of fees and fines collection for waste so that all revenues (excepting those charged for hazardous waste disposal) will now be channeled directly to local administration rather than to the State Environmental Fund. This is likely to benefit local authorities who will become more responsible in their own right for environmental spending and in prioritizing expenditures according to the most severe local environmental problems. Other features of the new law include measures to ensure that operators of landfill sites remediate and return sites to an acceptable level of recreational value, and that they identify and/or allocate suitable funds for site reclamation. New definitions of waste and the adoption of the European Waste Catalogue are other significant features.
The new law will replace the existing Waste Act, No. 238/1991. However, it falls short of requiring waste producers to prepare waste minimization plans - something which until now has been covered by the current Waste Act. Furthermore, it can only be declared partially harmonized with EU requirements. Although in line with the Basel Convention and European Directives on toxic and hazardous waste, waste legislation in the Czech Republic is still among the least harmonized with EU standards. As a result, the new Act will be amended either in 1999 or in the year 2000 to accommodate these shortfalls and will be followed by several other regulations in the field. A new law on packaging, regulating disposal practices and establishing responsibility among producers, retailers, and consumers for packaging waste through product charges is already expected to be passed sometime next year.
According to a recent survey made by the REC of environmental product and service providers in the Czech Republic, it is clear that many environmental experts realize the significance of the new legislation. Most listed it as a priority issue for the foreseeable future in the waste sector, particularly since enforcement of legislation will likely be strengthened over the coming years given the Czech Republic's bid for membership to the European Union. English copies of the Act (No.125/1997) are likely to be available later this year.
