INVESTMENT AND EXPENDITURE OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES IN WASTE MANAGEMENT SECTOR

The waste management sector as one of the most significant economic sectors requires effective management not only in Latvia but in the European Union as whole. According to the recent (2020) available Eurostat data, 505 kg of municipal waste per capita were generated in the EU of which 48% were recycled and 22% were landfilled. Latvia ranges in the 11th position among the EU Member States with 478 kg of generated waste per capita. Romania (287 kg), Poland (346 kg) and Hungary (364 kg) are countries having generated the lowest amounts of municipal waste per capita, while Denmark (845 kg) and Luxembourg (790 kg) have been the top countries with the highest amounts of generated municipal waste per capita in 2020. In Latvia, approximately 66% of generated waste were recycled and 19% were landfilled in 2020. Moving towards the green economy and following the EU Directive 2018/851 targets for recycling municipal waste the governments develop investment plans envisaging financial resources for the waste management sector. The research aim is to evaluate environmental protection expenditure in the context of waste management policy. The research employs statistical data analysis to study the problem elements and synthesise coherencies or formulate regularities. The research period covers the years from 2010 to 2020. Starting from 2018, Latvia has essentially increased amounts of total investment and current expenditure for waste collection and treatment. In 2020, investments have increased 3.9 times compared with 2018; thus, amounting to EUR 36 295 thousand, while the current expenditure has grown by 21.9% amounting to EUR 118 182 thousand. The proportion of investment in waste management has also essentially increased, i.e. from 19.50% in 2010 to 49.96% in 2020, while the respective growth for current expenditure has been more moderate, i.e. from 32.79% to 62.42% of total financial resources for environmental protection.