BY JENS MÅGE
NORWEGIAN EXPERTISE CONTRIBUTES TO BIOWASTE MANAGEMENT IN SERBIA
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STARTED IN SERBIA Biowaste management is a starting point and a prerequisite for all waste management in a circular bioeconomy. It preserves the environment, creates new green jobs and enables Serbia to meet the recycling targets and requirements of the EUs new Green Deal and waste directives. In August this year, fires again broke out in Vinča, a mega landfill located 12-15 km from the centre of Belgrade. The toxic smoke could be felt throughout the city. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual phenomenon in Serbia.
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enmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers, have launched the project “Boosting Circular Economy in Serbia - Nordic Experience”. The embassies invited experts from the Nordic countries to present good practice examples and show the importance and benefits of a circular economy. The first conference was held in Novi Sad on 15th September, and I was invited from Avfall Norge to share experiences from Norway. Status of waste management in Serbia - My knowledge of Serbia was very
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limited before this visit. I thus really appreciated learning more about the country and meeting many engaged Serbs and people who are now involved in developing the country in a circular direction. This includes the Nordic ambassadors and staff at the Nordic embassies. Serbia has significant production of coal and steel, with high emissions. Environmental regulations and their enforcement, including following up on environmental violations, are insufficient to meet today’s expected standards. This results in a lot of pollution, together with emissions from traffic, coal power plants, heating with lignite and wood in houses, apartment and office buildings. In addition, there are the constant
Nordic Countries & Serbia 2021
fires at landfills and dumpsites, as well as discharges due to a lack of waste management. Only 11 of around 160 Serbian municipalities have some form of sorting and waste treatment. In practise, virtually all waste heads to landfill sites untreated. And most of these sites are not “sanitary” landfills, and are thus categorised as dumpsites. Landfill fires - a big problem - Belgrade and other cities in Serbia and the Balkans regularly top lists of the most polluted cities in the world. A report from the Global Alliance for Health and Pollution from 2019 stated that Serbia has set a record in Europe for pollution-related deaths measured per capita.
Biowaste must be sorted and treated separately - In 2025, landfills will account for 8-10% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to international waste organisation ISWA’s pioneering report from 2016. Today, Serbia does not have adequate landfill fees or other incentives to reduce the amount of biowaste discarded at landfill sites. The renovation fee for households is artificially low (about a tenth of Norway’s), which is far from enough to secure investments in infrastructure and solutions for waste management. The experience from Norway and other Nordic countries is that positive change comes through legislation and the enforcement of regulations, national objectives, municipalities’ own goals, climateand waste management plans and market requirements, including the demand of inhabitants for a better environment. Over recent years, development has also been largely driven by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, transition to a circular economy - new ambitious goals and regu-
