Regional waste hub to be built in Rančevo in northwestern Serbia

The construction of regional waste management center Rančevo on the Sombor city territory in Serbia will create conditions to close the landfills used by five municipal units and to process and reuse most of their municipal waste.

The Rančevo regional waste management center will also have a facility for the production of fuel from municipal waste – a novelty for Serbia.

The City of Sombor and the municipalities of Kula, Odžaci, Apatin, and Bač signed an agreement on intermunicipal cooperation and the establishment of the center in line with the National Waste Management Strategy. The regional center for the region in northwestern Serbia, in Vojvodina province, should be built in 18-24 months, the local authorities said.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection is the investor in the EUR 34 million project. The funds should come from a loan of up to EUR 100 million that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the French Development Agency (AFD) are considering to approve for a total of four regional centers.

The project in Rančevo consists of a waste management facility and a sanitary landfill. The waste treatment plant there will have systems for mechanical waste treatment, bio-drying of waste, production of solid fuel, manual selection of primarily sorted packaging waste, pressing and storage of materials.

Waste from all five municipal units to be treated at same place

Existing landfills in the area with 180,000 inhabitants will be closed and rehabilitated, except the one near Sombor where the center should be built. The closure and remediation of landfills is not included in the EUR 34 million investment but it is part of the sustainability study for the project – filed under “associated infrastructure.”

The waste management hub will be built on a publicly owned plot north of Sombor. The five local authorities should establish a regional public utility for waste management as the next step.

EBRD and AFD are considering to approve a loan of up to EUR 100 million for four regional landfill projects in Serbia

According to a framework study conducted by consulting company Envico from Belgrade, the initial plan was to invest in eight regional centers, but after discussions with domestic stakeholders, the number was cut to four.

Three more regional waste management systems in Serbia

The estimated cost of the establishment of waste management center Kalenić in the Kolubara district in western Serbia is EUR 36 million. The funds will be invested in a sanitary landfill for mechanical biological treatment, composting plants, transfer stations, and transport trucks.

The project for the stabilization and expansion of the existing landfill Duboko near Užice, also in the west, is valued at EUR 17 million. It includes the construction of a composting platform, a landfill gas recovery and valorization plant, modernization of existing waste treatment facilities, construction of household waste recycling sites, and a transfer station in Požega.

For the construction of the Banjica regional center near Nova Varoš, the investment cost is estimated at EUR 8 million. It will include a sanitary landfill, a composting facility, and mechanical biological treatment.