Serbian town of Čačak plans to introduce recycling yards in rural areas

City of Čačak and its public utility company Komunalac plan to introduce recycling yards in suburban areas in order to solve the problem of wild garbage dumps. They also plan to install nine more underground containers in addition to the existing five in this town in western Serbia.

Petar Domanović, director of Komunalac, told Balkan Green Energy News that so far the plan is to set up five so-called recycling islands in surrounding villages. He added that the recycling yards will be set up at the locations with heavy traffic where not only locals, but also passersby throw away trash.

He said he expects the first recycling yard to be installed at the beginning of September, adding that work will start on several locations simultaneously.

Domanović said that this project is financed by city’s budget and Komunalac’s funds, adding that the setting up of a recycling yard roughly costs between EUR 5,500 and 6,000.

According to the company’s plan, recycling yards where municipal waste can be sorted, are to be set up in Slatina, Preljina, Prijevor, Gornja Trepca and Loznica. Slatina is especially problematic because it is situated along the regional highway between Čačak and Kraljevo, in the south.

Domanović said that the prerequisite for setting up recycling yards is to determine whether they are located on a land owned by the city, as those structures, once built, cannot be moved. This is the case of Slatina for which it must be determined whether it belongs to the state road company.

He said that there are around 70 so-called neighbourhood communities in the Čačak area and that it is planned to set up “recycling islands” at least in half of the communities. “We do not have to install them everywhere, somewhere there is no need for that, but at least in half  of the communities we plan to do so,” he said, adding that efforts to raise public awareness must be also taken.

According to him, the city authorities and Komunalac plan also to find a solution for financing of waste collection and disposal from the rural areas.

“It was agreed with the city authorities that by the end of September, before the budget, we come out with a concrete solution to finance the collection and disposal of waste from the rural area,” he said.

In the urban area, underground containers have been installed to enable disposal and sorting of waste. So far, five of them have been set up, and the plan is to install another nine, Domanović said, adding that Komunalac is in charge for primary waste selection.

The sorted dry and wet waste is then transferred to regional sanitary landfill Duboko, within the regional waste management system. Nine municipalities in western Serbia uste this system to dispose of waste.