Waste problems in Slovenia with emphasis on plastic waste

Svetovni razvoj, želja po nenehni gospodarski rasti in potrošniška družba nam prinašajo vedno več novih izdelkov in s tem vsak dan več odpadkov. Namen zaključnega dela je, da seznanimo ljudi o problematiki odpadkov in plastičnih odpadkov v Sloveniji tako, da jim predstavimo to temo, ki je vedno bolj aktualna in novejša tema z vidika gospodarstva. V zaključnem delu smo preučili, kaj sploh je odpadek, ravnanje z odpadki, kako se delijo odpadki ter zakonodajo. Poseben del naloge smo posvetili plastičnim odpadkom, ki so zelo aktualna tema in povzroča veliko grožnjo ekosistemu. V raziskavi smo preučevali, kako se Slovenija spopada z ravnanjem z odpadki v primerjavi s povprečjem 27 evropskih držav in kako napreduje sama. Namen raziskave je, da vidimo, kje smo dobri in kje so najbolj potrebne izboljšave. Pri tem smo potrjevali pet zastavljenih raziskovalnih vprašanj. Z raziskavo smo prišli do ugotovitev, da se Slovenija dobro spopada s problematiko odpadkov, saj redno presega zastavljene cilje Evropske unije. Najbolje nam gre na področju reciklaže komunalnih odpadkov in stekla, kjer zadnjih nekaj let kotiramo med najboljšimi petimi v Evropski uniji. Največ možnosti za napredek imamo na področju reciklaže papirja in kartona.Global development, the desire for continuous economic growth, and consumer society bring us new products every day. Consequently, we produce more waste day by day. In our dissertation, we presented waste problems in Slovenia. We were especially focused on plastic waste which is also one of the biggest problems of the 21st century. The problem which we presented in our dissertation is newer in the economy. We looked at what is waste, how we manage waste, and how we sort waste by categories and waste laws. A special part of our dissertation is focused on plastic waste which is a big threat to our ecosystem. In our research, we looked at how Slovenia handles waste management and compare it to the average of 27 European countries or how it progresses compare to itself. The purpose of the research is to see our strengths and where improvements should be made. We tried to confirm the five research questions that we selected. In the research, we concluded that Slovenia copes well with the problem of waste because it regularly exceeds the goals set by the European Union. Our biggest strengths are municipal waste and glass recycling where we are ranked among the top 5 in the European Union for the past few years. However, we have the greatest opportunities for progress in the field of paper and cardboard recycling