WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE UK AND ITALY: A COMPARISON by

In recent decades, the European Union has striven towards the harmonisation of waste management practices throughout its Member States, by adopting legislation and specific guidelines. Nevertheless, the management of discarded products and materials still differ greatly among European nations. The case is illustrated with an overview of domestic and industrial waste management in Italy and the United Kingdom. Considering the effects of recent European and national legislative changes on the development of the waste service sector and recovery industry, it appears that the overall structure and market position of the waste management industry have developed similarly throughout Europe. This has partly been related to common goals and a tendency towards competitiveness on a more European scale. A study of the metal and scrap cables recovery sector and current research on the UK waste service sector suggest that homogenisation of the recovery industry is increasingly common, as smaller companies succumb to or agglomerate into bigger and more powerful organisations which then specialise in ‘total waste management’. This in turn has repercussions on waste management at the domestic/municipal and industrial levels, both at present and into the future.