One of the biggest global environmental problems is inadeqate waste management. Although in relation to technological progress, the European Union began a more active approach to environmental protection as well as waste management relatively late, in the 1970s. Various programs and environmental objectives and measures have been proposed and implemented in EU legislation until today. In the earlier stages, waste management was only one part of the EU's environmental policy, but with increasing technological progress, population growth and new member states joining, waste management was gaining in importance as a topic that needed special attention. Although various perspectives and programs have been defined, measures and instruments for achieving the goals have been adopted, the concept has not yet come to life as planned, what is visible in the analysis of available data in a given period. This paper established the main features of common policies in the EU, with an emphasis on environmental policy, ie waste management. The current state of waste management in the EU member states is analyzed as well as the instruments of waste management policy and environmental protection in general. The revitalization of the waste market in the Republic of Croatia has been identified, as one of the goals of waste management - "Strengthening the waste market" presented as a perspective for solving the problem of disposing of separately collected waste. According to the analysis of the European Commission Report and the given recommendations, energy recovery of non-recycled waste is inevitable with the perspective of reducing the import dependence of electricity and heat, which opens another possibility for more efficient waste management in the Republic of Croatia and goals achievement. At the end, the instruments and measures of waste management in the Republic of Croatia were discussed, the effects and challenges of the waste management policy on the waste market in the Republic of Croatia were determined, and the topic of the paper was concluded.