Some of the environmental problems that arise in urban and industrial areas, such as air quality, aquifer contamination, ground-water overexploitation, and land degradation, have been addressed earlier in this section. But there are additional concerns that tend to be closely associated with urban and industrial areas. Waste management is one such issue. It has been identified as a particular priority in CEE (REC, 1994), with hazardous wastes seen as a main concern throughout the region (UNEP, 1996).
Waste generation has been on the increase in Europe and the CIS. Many urban areas, particularly in western Europe, have introduced measures for reducing waste and for recycling it when appropriate and economically viable. The average European produces between 150 and 600 kilograms of municipal waste per year, with East Europeans tending to produce less than West Europeans (EEA, 1995a). The rate of increase in municipal waste among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Europe was 3 per cent a year between 1985 and 1990 (EEA, 1995a). In CEE, the adoption of western-style consumption patterns has resulted in an increasing amount of throwaway packaging. This, in turn, has resulted in larger waste streams, consisting of plastics and non-biodegradable materials, that overburden existing waste management systems. Illegal dumping of waste exacerbates the problem in some areas.
The growing quantities of municipal waste require new landfills or alternative methods of waste disposal, such as incineration, composting, reuse, and recycling (REC, 1994). In turn, these measures may generate new problems.
Incineration, for example, is instrumental in the release into the environment of some heavy metals, like mercury, and products of incomplete combustion, which include highly toxic dioxins and other persistent organic compounds (EEA, 1995a).
Agricultural and industrial wastes are produced in even greater quantities (EEA, 1995a), a significant proportion of which are considered to be hazardous. For example, 80 billion tons of solid waste have accumulated in the Russian Federation, 1.1 billion of which are toxic and environmentally dangerous (Min. of Env. Prot. and Nat. Res. of the Russ. Fed., 1994). Most countries in Europe have many thousands of contaminated sites due to improper waste disposal. Several FSU countries have a legacy of waste from industrial and abandoned military sites that received little processing (EEA, 1995a). Large quantities of waste, including toxic and even radioactive substances, were just stored in the environment, often with very weak protection. As a result, leakage and further migration of pollutants from storage places has occurred. The worst situations are found in northeast Estonia, the Donbas region of Ukraine, the Moscow region, the Urals, and Kuzbas in West Siberia (REC, 1995b).
Many contaminated sites are now being cleaned up-but at high cost. In addition, the increasing adoption of cleaner production technologies and industrial waste minimization and recycling is a positive trend. The disposal of hazardous wastes continues to be a particular cause for concern. One strategy used particularly by western European countries, which has received much attention recently, is the export of waste to other countries. There are two clear directions in the movement of hazardous European wastes: from west to east within the region and from Europe to developing countries. In 1985, OECD countries adopted some waste movement principles that were later included in the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (EEA, 1995a; WHO, 1995).
Accidents are an additional threat to humans and the environment. They are frequently linked to urban and industrial activities. A major industrial accident reporting system has shown that most recent accidents have occurred in the petroleum industry and that highly inflammable gases and chlorine were the substance most often involved. The impact of such accidents can be very widespread if the substances permeate through food chains. Specific risks to the environment or to human health vary according to the location and nature of the accident, and accidental risk management must focus on these variables (EEA, 1995a).
Life in built-up areas brings with it a number of stresses not present elsewhere-particularly those associated with air and noise pollution and traffic congestion. Being a highly urbanized region, a very large number of people are potentially at risk. For example, it is estimated that more than 20 per cent of the European population is habitually exposed to stressful noise levels (above 65 decibels) from road traffic (WHO, 1995). The urban infrastructure also has a bearing on human well-being. In many parts of Europe, the pattern of urban decline prevalent in the 1980s has been replaced by programmes of urban renewal and restructuring, to revitalize economies and improve the quality of life. Most large cities in CEE have yet to reach this stage, however (EEA, 1995a).
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