We won’t take refuse

"We won’t take rubbish from other municipalities, and that’s a rule," says Sevlievo mayor Yordan Stoykov (elected by a coalition, including the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party). The Ministry’s plan says that Sevlievo’s refuse site should take rubbish from another 11 municipalities. "So far we haven’t been officially informed about the plan but our refuse site is under municipal ownership and whoever wants to use it should pay a fee for every ton of refuse," he says. He says that the Ministry’s decision is scandalous and Sevlievo administration was ready to defend the interests of its citizens.

According to Zlatko Zhivkov, mayor of Montana town, storing refuse from other towns at the Montana site could bring the whole town out onto the streets in protest. "Storing rubbish from other towns at our site is an act of violence on the part of the state and this is unacceptable. We can’t afford to give other municipalities even two per cent of what our refuse site holds."

There is one formal problem in the Ministry’s plan and it is in the papers of the newly built refuse sites. They have been issued on the basis that they will only serve the municipalities that own them. According to the Ministry, however, this could easily be changed.

The Ministry also claims that if municipalities recycle and separate much of their refuse this will ease the situation. The Ministry says this could happen with the help of packaging recovery companies that could reduce rubbish levels by 30 per cent. Hence, the Ministry’s calculations and those of municipalities differ so markedly. Kiril Zdravkov, executive director of Ecopack Bulgaria company, however, was sceptical whether such a move could be implemented by July 16.

"We can help municipalities only after we know the exact amount of their refuse and its content so that we know what we need to recycle. Once we know all this we can say how much it will cost," he says. According to an agreement between the company and municipalities, this data should be provided by July 3 but Ecopack lacked the capacity for recycling their refuse.    

No change of deadline
"I am convinced that the main opposition to our plan comes from mayors of GERB," says Deputy Environment Minister Chvadar Georgiev. He admit that there could be discrepancies between the calculations of the Ministry and those of municipalities but he says they could turn to the Finance Ministry for additional subsidies. The Environment Ministry could also allocate up to 300 000 leva in interest-free loans for the purchase of new equipment, he says.

According to Georgiev, the law holds municipalities responsible for not meeting the Ministry’s requirements in collecting rubbish. This means that municipalities will face sanctions. "We need to do our best to show the EC that we have taken all necessary measures to implement the EC directive, otherwise the EC could launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria in September. "The July 16 deadline cannot be renegotiated," he says.

Dnevnik daily