Since the beginning of 2002, European law requires selective waste collection in urban areas. The aim of the paper is to present ways of efficient waste management in urban areas according to European regulations. Data will be presented from the urban waste management (City of Timisoara) for 2008, 2009 and first half of 2010, for the following categories of waste: municipal waste, waste paper / cardboard, tires, car batteries, spent oils, waste from wood processing, plastic waste, hazardous medical waste, glass, textile waste, electrical and electronic equipment waste. Research methods used are statistical collection and interpretation of results and the materials used consist of questionnaires completed by businesses and environmental agency reports. The novelty of the paper is a presentation of the urban image of an efficient management of waste, not just those of the municipal recyclable but also the valuable recyclable, in the context of sustainable development. The research is limited to providing waste collection methods and amounts for each category of waste, without getting into the processes of recycling / recovery of waste. From a practical point of view, the research shows the degree of education with the population and with the economic agents at the urban level regarding waste collection as shown by the data regarding the amount of waste collected already. The importance of the research is mainly in respecting the principles underlying the waste management activities: the principle of primary resources protection, the principle of using the best available techniques, the principle of prevention, the polluter pays principle, the principle of substitution, the principle of subsidiarity, the principle of integration proximity and of integration. The originality of this paper is given by combining the methods of waste management conditions with the conditions that have to be complied under environmental legislation in force and interpretation of existing data on the types of waste to provide a complete picture of the urban waste management efficiency.

urban environment, wastes, sustainable development

Presentation: oral