By Mati Viisimaa 1993 was the first year after the Waste Law and minor legal acts on waste had taken effect. Data concerning waste generation, recycling, treatment and dumping by Estonian enterprises is collected in a PC database at the Ministry of the Environment, where the data is then processed and updated to be available for the use of any waste management projects.
Data concerning counties is kept at the local environmental departments.
Data about waste generation according to their hazardousness is provided in table 20 . In 1993, 14.5 mil tons of waste were generated, which is somewhat less than in 1992. Landfills, ash grounds etc. Due to the large amount of minerals in oil shale, waste generation is unavoidable. Unfortunately, present technological level does not allow the utilization of the huge amounts of oil shale waste.