The article gives an analysis of different socio-economic, legal-organizational, info-educational, technical and technological aspects of waste treatment, and also the most used models and instruments in the realm of municipal waste management, applicable in the civilized world. A special attention is paid to the main imperfections of the existing waste treatment system in Ukraine and other countries. A comparative method helps to understand the differences, and the crucial problems in waste processing models used in developed and developing countries, in order to make necessary corrections to environmental policy, with implementation of new social-ecological, psychological, legal and economic incentives. A study of the successful waste-reducing and utilization experience of some countries gives a reason to conclude, that their governments and local authorities have created not only the expedient infrastructure for recycling, but also a proper moral-ethical background in the municipal waste management. As we hope, the most significant tools and methods of mentioned environmental policy have been unfolded in this research.