2024-07-22 18:58:13
- The capital with the ambition to save BGN 15 million with separate collection
- Only 30 thousand tons are currently recycled
Sofia wants to introduce a new stricter standard for the work of separate waste collection companies. The aim is to increase the places where there are colored containers and to make the separate collection of plastic, metal, paper and glass more efficient.
At the moment, there are few separate collection bins, often in inconvenient places, and even conscientious people who want to sort their waste sometimes give up because they don’t feel like carrying the bags several times.
In addition, the openings of the buckets are small, because the companies do not want their raw material to be stolen. So often large boxes and packages are left next to them and every wind blows them around the streets. The result of all this is that only 30,000 tons of garbage are recycled, with companies returning about 6,000 tons to the garbage plant as unusable.
About 413 thousand tons are processed in the plant.
By 2035, we must recycle 65% of household waste
and only 10% to go to landfills.
These findings are from a report by the Metropolitan Municipality, which is due to be approved by the Metropolitan City Council on Thursday. It was presented by the deputy mayor for ecology Nadezhda Bobcheva and municipal councilors from PP-DB-SS.
They suggest that all companies place three containers each – for plastic and metal, for paper and for glass. Now, in 16 regions, they are collected in only two – yellow (for paper, plastic and metal) and green (for glass).
The municipality’s data showed that the system with three buckets was much more efficient, because they collected 16 thousand tons per year, while those with two – 10 thousand, explained the municipal councilor from PP-DB-SS Simeon Stavrev.
In order to have a greater effect, it is also suggested that the places for their placement be increased.
There are about 3,000 separate collection points throughout the capital,
while gray containers for general waste are 92,000.
According to the current requirements, in areas with up to 50,000 inhabitants, one package of separate collection bins is placed for every 350 inhabitants. In those with between 50,000 and 100,000 people, the set should serve 550 inhabitants, and in those with more than 100,000 inhabitants, it is also one for every 750 inhabitants. Now it is suggested that every 250 people make a place for a separate gathering.
In addition, the requirements for separate collection companies to respond more quickly to a citizen’s report that something is damaged or missing will be increased.
The buckets themselves are also expected to have a larger opening.
The Municipality of Sofia has signed contracts with three organizations for the recovery of packaging waste – “Ekobulpak Bulgaria”, “Ekopak Bulgaria” and “Bulekopak”.
According to Emilia Angelova, the recycling companies make about BGN 100 million in turnover per year, which is from our waste. In addition, recycling is the cheaper option for the municipality, which can save around BGN 15-20 million per year. Currently, the municipality pays about BGN 400 per ton for garbage from the gray containers. The colored ones are not paid, because they profit from the sale of the raw material.
Therefore, every piece of waste that goes into the colored bins saves money, Angelova said. She explained that there are many reasons why recycling does not happen. “Besides the lobbying of the recycling companies, there is also the lobbying of the garbage companies, who are another player and they are paid per ton of waste. They have no motivation to have less waste in the gray bins,” Angelova explained. And he called for the report on the minimum conditions for recycling companies to be supported in the environment committee and at the meeting of the SOS on Thursday. Keep track of who votes how. The more that is recycled, the less money for the companies of Rumen Gaitanski-Valka, TIM and other cleaning companies, warned the chairman of the PP-DB-SS group Boris Bonev.
It is also suggested that the companies that will win the orders for the separate collection of the waste
pay for the garbage they send to landfill
Now, out of 30,000 tons of recyclable waste per year, the companies return 6,000 tons to the Waste Treatment Plant in the village of Yana. He was no longer paid by the companies, as was the practice before. Among other things, it is returned marked for landfill, so the municipality cannot sort it to retrieve the trash for sale.
In the city, the pilot projects for “green islands” will continue, as well as the placement of the brown containers for food. The municipality is also preparing those for textiles.