The City of Zagreb will find an optimal solution for waste management in cooperation with citizens and the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection, stated Milan Bandić, mayor of the capital of Croatia, and Slaven Dobrović, minister, after the first meeting of the working group for the adoption of an action plan.
The goal is to deliver the plan as fast as possible, so the existing system could be improved and level of sorting increased, Dobrović said. He stressed waste management in Zagreb is an issue for the whole country. Technology, capacity and funding will be tackled in partnership with the ministry, Dobrović underscored.
Asked whether a waste incinerator will be constructed, he said paper and plastic, the only possible fuel, are the most valuable recycling materials, and that destroying them would mean there’s no circular economy.
The city authority is already conducting measures, resulting in decreased volume of waste at landfill Jakuševac, but it is necessary to speed up the process, according to Dobrović. It won’t be so hard, concluded the minister, with education for citizens and a lot of good will and strong determination.
The mayor said there were serious steps made, namely the rehabilitation of Jakuševec and installation of a waste water treatment plant that made Sava river clean downstream of Zagreb. Bandić also said citizens will have an opportunity to lower the price they are paying for waste collection by composting, recycling and decreasing the household waste volume. Incinerators are not in anymore, he stressed and added it was thirty years ago when the particular technology was advanced.
Three days earlier, minister Dobrović had a meeting with Timo Rajakangas, ambassador of Finland. They discussed possibilities for intensifying bilateral cooperation. The ambassador presented priorities in the economy of Finland, naming wood industry as the most important sector, closely followed by the clean technology sector. The latter is expected to create 40.000 new jobs by 2020, he added.
Minister Dobrović said waste management is of greatest priority for Croatia, together with a change in direction towards circular economy and renewables.
