Bulgaria’s plastic waste recycling rate much lower than in official statistics, report reveals

Bulgaria’s statistics show a 50.6% recycling rate for 2019 in the plastic packaging waste segment. However, over half of the country’s municipalities reported recycling rates for municipal waste of under 10% for 2019, of which some were virtually at zero, Za Zemiata and Zero Waste Europe found.

A new report revealed stark discrepancies in official data on Bulgaria’s plastic packaging waste management. Government statistics paint a misleadingly optimistic picture that clashes with on-the-ground failures, environmentalist group Za Zemiata and the Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) network said in a report.

The document, Parallel realities: Managing plastic packaging waste in Bulgaria beyond official statistics, reveals that over half of the municipalities in the country, 132 of them, reported recycling rates for municipal waste below 10% for 2019. In the group, 43 were virtually at zero. At the same time, statistics on plastic packaging waste recycling showed a 50.6% rate.

Amount of generated plastic packaging waste was underreported by 29% for 2022

The Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI) reported 148,367 tons of plastic packaging waste for 2022. Conversely, producer responsibility organizations (PROs) measured 105,359 tons of plastic packaging released on the market by their members – 29% less. Similarly in 2020, PROs underreported plastic packaging placed on the market by 78%.

“This is a European problem. Last year, Zero Waste Europe brought attention to the problem in Spain, exposing how the packaging PRO was misreporting collection data. As a direct result, the Spanish government announced the introduction of a nationwide deposit return system to meet its recycling targets. It is urgent that the EU creates the right tools and rules to guarantee proper oversight and reporting. A European organisation in charge of compliance monitoring is needed,” said ZWE’s Packaging and Reuse Policy Officer Larissa Copello.

Extended producer responsibility failing to cover true costs of managing packaging waste

The real issue lies in the lack of adequate monitoring, controls, and sufficient legal requirements, according to Evgeniya Tasheva from the zero waste team at Za Zemiata.

“This report raises serious concerns about underreporting or misreporting by PROs, but extended producer responsibility for packaging in Bulgaria fails to cover the true costs of managing packaging waste. As a result, these costs are unfairly shifted onto citizens. Bulgarians end up paying more than many other EU citizens for inferior service,” Tasheva added.

The transparency issues with extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes will continue to happen unless the EU addresses the governance and power imbalances in EPR systems by creating an independent EU watchdog to monitor PROs performance, ensure accountability and transparency, and engage a broader range of stakeholders, like municipalities, in their governance, the two organizations said.

Bulgarians end up paying more than many other EU citizens for inferior service

The waste designated for incineration as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in Bulgaria is of low quality, due to the lack of a well-designed structure for the separate collection of bio-waste, construction waste, and other inert materials, the report reads.

“To be able to absorb the amount of packaging waste actually being generated – and if the PROs adhered only to the minimum standards –  separate collection bins would have to be available in each locality and they would have to be either emptied daily or their number should be increased by 2.5 to three times, in order to provide sufficient population coverage and be more convenient for households. These two conditions are a world away from the current situation, where separate waste collection bins are primarily placed in densely populated urban centres, while smaller settlements and remote areas are largely ignored,” the document’s authors underscored.

Pays more to recycle imported plastics

The analysis found that – apart from imported RDF for cement plants – Bulgaria has been importing 70,000–100,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually for recycling in recent years. Apparently it is easier and more profitable to feed recycling capacity with imported plastics than to invest in a holistic system for the management of domestically generated plastic waste.

Additionally, the growing number of waste incineration projects: in Galabovo, Sliven, Bobov Dol, Pavlikeni, Stara Zagora, Devnya and other places, undermines incentives to achieve a higher recycling rate for plastic waste, the authors stressed.

Of note, the Supreme Administrative Court blocked a waste-to-energy project in Sofia in May. It cited inadequate public participation, health risk assessment and risk evaluations for toxic emissions including ash. The combined heat and power (CHP) incinerator near the city center was supposed to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF). An RDF production facility was built before the investment was halted.

In September, environmentalist organizations protested in Brussels, demanding from the European Commission to stop false reporting of collection, reuse and recycling data.