After various municipalities in Bulgaria turned down a request to accept Sofia’s refuse at the beginning of September, Deputy Environment Minister Chavdar Georgiev told a news conference on September 2 that there is an option for baled rubbish to be transported to foreign landfills.
The maximum term for the bales to be kept at temporary depots in Kremikovtzi and Gara Iskur was three years, a term set by the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW), a period that had already passed. In the middle of August 2008 the European Union (EU) set a deadline of September 1 2008 for Sofia municipality to solve its refuse problems, by moving and making safe the baled refuse. Given the current situation, the EU has postponed the deadline for Sofia to the end of October 2008, Georgiev said.
The government is already discussing a plan B but it will be officially announced on September 5 at a meeting with representatives of the European Commission, deputy Prime Minister Meglena Plougchieva said. Previously, Georgiev had announced that the refuse bales could be sent abroad, with one of the variants being Romania. On September 2 he confirmed this option.
The exact destination has notyet been confirmed but, according to Georgiev, landfills and refuse-processing plants in Austria and Germany had spare capacity. He said that after the refusal of local mayors from Montana, Plovdiv, Karlovo, Sevlievo and Gorna Malina, the Government was running out of options, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported.
The state would have to pay 120 euro a tonne to destroy the rubbish in Austria or Germany but after adding transport costs this amount would reach 200 euro a ton. For all baled refuse, which is at the platforms in Kremikovtsi and Gara Iskur, Bulgaria will have to pay more than 100 million euro in total, Georgiev said. If the rubbish gets on the road, it will be moved by train or shipped.
According to Georgiev, Bulgaria still has landfills that could accept Sofia’s refuse but he did not confirm whether negotiations had already started.
