Slovenia plans emergency removal of piled up packaging waste, tomb candles

Slovenia’s Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning has drafted a bill aimed at tackling the problem of piled up packaging waste and tomb candles at waste management utilities by creating a legal basis for the state to cover the costs of their emergency removal, an intervention that will soak nearly EUR 4 million, local media reported.

The bill, which has been sent for public consultation, envisages the selection of a contractor that will handle the emergency removal of packaging waste and tomb candles on behalf of the state, according to reports.

Within 30 days of the law’s entry into force, environmental inspectors will conduct a tour to determine the indicative quantity of waste that has not been handled properly.

The total estimated cost of receiving and processing is EUR 3.6 million for the accumulated packaging waste and EUR 320.000 for waste tomb candles.

The planned emergency waste removal is expected to offset risks to human health and environmental pollution and to help achieve environmental objectives in the field of waste management, the ministry has said.

30,000 tons of packaging waste to be piled up across Slovenia by end-2018

By the end of 2018, some 30,000 tons of packaging waste and 1,500 tons of waste tomb candles, which create a hygiene and fire hazard, will have been accumulated at storage spaces across Slovenia, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning Jure Leben has warned.

Due to full storage spaces, some utilities have even stopped shipping waste packaging from companies, while the ministry fears that waste will also start piling up in front of houses and apartment blocks, according to the Slovenian media.

The proposed law excludes the application of the provisions of the public procurement legislation, as this would imply lengthy procedures for selecting the appropriate contractor for the planned emergency removal, according to the reports.

With the proposed bill, the ministry is also trying to solve the problem in advance. The draft law stipulates that legal entities or individuals who are required to conclude a contract with a waste management company, in line with packaging waste handling regulations, will from January 1, 2019 onwards pay a share of overall packaging waste handling costs according to their share in all packaging marketed in Slovenia.