Macedonia has set up a sound legal frame for sustainable waste management system in line with the European Union's standards, but it needs help for its application, the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Abdilaqim Ademi, said Tuesday at a seminar 'Building the capacity for implementation of EU directives for waste disposal - closing of illegal dumps and inspection.'

The existing waste disposal practices don't meet the EU technical and environmental standards, he said.

"Dumps where both hazardous and non-hazardous waste are being disposed present a risk in terms of polluting the air, soil, surface and underwater, potentially threatening the biodiversity, arable land and humans health," Ademi said.

Most of the existing landfills in Macedonia should be closed as their upgrading in line with the EU standards is not economically justified.

"This is a challenge we are dealing with at the moment by introducing the Regional Waste Management System in Macedonia," he said.

The project should result in a plan for closing the illegal dumps in accordance with the programme for harmonization of the national with the EU legislation.

The project is being realized with the technical assistance of Swedish experts, who along with the domestic ones, drafted a plan for training the staff of State Environmental Inspectorate on communal waste dumps, Ademi said.

Swedish Ambassador Lars Wahlund said other countries could learn a lot from Sweden's expertise in this sphere.

Sweden is supporting Macedonia's EU integration, he said, pointing out that it is very difficult and expensive for a country to meet the standards of the Chapter 7 of the EU acquis on environment protection, Wahlund said.

"It is very important for us to be active in dealing with environment issues. Everybody is going to be happier to see less garbage, and now we have more garbage than flowers," he said.

Each citizen should also be aware of own responsibility for protecting the environment, the Swedish Ambassador said.