Our Story
EU waste management policy aims to contribute to the circular economy by extracting high-quality resources from waste as much as possible. In practice, a circular economy model aims to reduce waste to a minimum and promote re-using, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling of existing materials and products. The European Green Deal aims to promote growth by transitioning to a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. As part of this transition, several EU waste laws have been reviewed.
The current system in the country for waste management is primarily focused on waste collection and disposal. Regular waste collection services are largely limited to urban areas, providing up to 90% coverage in the cities and their outskirts. In total, around 70% of the total population receives regular waste collection services, while the remaining 30%, residing in rural settlements distant from the main collection areas, manage wastes on their own. Currently, at local level, Municipalities still hold the responsibility for waste collection and still use local facilities for waste disposal.
The current waste management system in the respective East and Northeast Regions is that the population connected to waste services is 100% in urban areas and 65,1% in rural areas (67,2% in East Region and 63,2% in North-East Region). There is no separate waste collection. Disposal of mixed non-treated waste is performed in non-compliant landfills, consequently there is production of significant quantities of biogas and heavily polluted leachate causing severe environmental threats.
Currently, in East Region, there are 12 non-compliant landfills and in North-East Region there are 5 non-compliant landfills and 36 dumpsites. Only 86,3% of waste generated is collected via organized collection services and selective collection is not implemented. Within the Project for Closure of non-compliance landfills and dumpsites in East and Northeast regions, the situation has dramatically changed. Namely, 71 dumpites have been closed in the East Region, whereas with the supply of equipment for waste collection (trucks and containers), which was done in 2019 for the East and Northeast regions, the capabilities of the existing municipal Public Communal Enterprise were exceeded.