Macedonia to launch tendering for establishment of waste management system in East, North-East regions

Macedonia’s Ministry of Finance has announced an intention to launch tendering for the establishment of an integrated and self-sustainable waste management system in the eastern and north-eastern regions of the country in December 2018. The ministry also plans to invite bids for the supervision of works in November 2018.

The contract for the establishment of an integrated and self-sustainable waste management system in the eastern and north-eastern regions will cover the construction of a Central Waste Management Facility (CWMF) consisting of one sanitary landfill, one sorting plant, one Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant, one composting plant, and one Green Point in the Sveti Nikole municipality in the area of Meckuevci-Arbasanci.

The contract will also cover the construction of six local waste management facilities, each consisting of one Transfer Station, one composting plant and one Green Point in six municipalities, the contract prior information notice reads.

The six municipalities in question are Berovo, Makedonska Kamenica, Vinica, Stip, Rakovce, and Kumanovo.

The purpose of the contract on the supervision of works is to inspect the implementation of the contract on works. The indicative budget for this procurement is EUR 1.2 million, according to the contract prior information notice.

Eight regions, only one regional waste landfill

Macedonia has eight regions and only one regional waste landfill – Drisla in Skopje – which is registered for the processing and disposal of hazardous waste and the gathering, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste. Waste in the other seven regions of the country is in temporary or unregulated landfills.

In February 2018, Deputy Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning of Macedonia Jani Makraduli announced the start of a project to set up regional waste landfills across the country in line with European standards, which would be financed from EU funds.

He said that a regional waste center in the northeast of the country in the town of Sveti Nikole will be established, adding that EUR 38.5 million would be secured for the project from the EU’s IPA funds.

A few months later, Macedonia launched a public debate on the draft new national waste management plan, envisaging the formation of the Environment Agency.