Nowadays current status of this field of environmental management is largely determined by the recent history of waste management and prevailing conditions in the country. During the Soviet period huge multisectoral industrial machine was operating in Georgia. Recent transitional processes resulted the almost complete collapse of country's economy.
Most industrial enterprises are in a stand-still or operating in the very limited regime.
Separate agencies were responsible for the management of generated industrial waste within the sector and the decision-making has also been exercised within the competence of the respective agency. Naturally this has resulted in a wide-spread practice of disposing the industrial waste on the territories of industrial enterprises. Frequently the industrial waste was disposed of on communal waste landfills sites without any reference to its toxicity and environmental impact. Decision-making in the field used to be the unilateral process, public participation has never been practised and there was no sharing of responsibilities. The waste management system has never been fully operational, nor the unified legislation in place.