RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN WASTE MANAGEMENT I N THE PROVINCE OF STYRIA AUSTRIA WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ECOLOGY AND ECONOMY/

This paper deals with structural changes in waste management, their ca uses and their consequences for the economic viability of disposal sit es in Styria. Transporting waste to sites run by other regional organi zations triggers spatial dynamics that are also described. In the 1991 - 1993 period primary research was carried out concerning economic an d ecological factors influencing the economic status of disposal sites . Due to an ever increasing willingness on the part of the population to avoid or carefully separate different types of waste, the amount to be disposed of decreases while the price per unit remains the same. T hus the income becomes smaller, while additional investments are neces sary due to stricter environmental regulations and more marked demands on the part of people living near the disposal sites. Newly opened si tes with state-of-the-art disposal techniques can only be maintained i f a profit can be made, decreasing amounts must, therefore, be offset by higher prices per unit - but this could bring about a diminishing n umber of ''customers'' (communes). Just now prices appear to be, more or less, stable. The disposal sites available at present will suffice for about twelve years. Only a few years ago things were considerably less favourable because political opposition tended to drag out the pr ocess of getting a building permission. In order to make full use of t he capacity of these sites some entrepreneurs try and solicit ''import s'' of waste from other provinces. For economic reasons such transport s right across Austria will continue to exist, though this is definite ly not acceptable ecologically.