Topical Information

The "Waste Management - Shared Responsibility of Municipalities and the State" forum united municipalities in their common responsibility for implementing one of the key reforms in the country.

The topic of the current forum is in the center of public attention and raises a number of challenges for local authorities. The reform of waste management is the most difficult and challenging task for the current municipal mandate - it is a joint task of the state, municipalities, businesses and citizens. This was stated by the executive director of NAMRB, Silvia Georgieva, at the opening of the discussion forum, part of the program of the Annual Meeting of Local Authorities.

With the adoption of the new Ordinance on the procedure for preparing and the model of the account plan, the commitment was placed entirely on the municipalities. The preparatory work that the local administrations carried out showed the deficiencies of both the current regulatory framework and the need for serious reforms in the municipal waste management systems. Aware of the burden on the municipalities, the central government gave us another year so that we could implement the reform effectively. This means that for us the work continues intensively, added Silvia Georgieva.

Teams of municipal experts were created in each municipality, and the Association prepared a very detailed advisory material on the types of data that should be collected in order to start the initial calculations, said the Chairman of the Board of NSORB and Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo, Daniel Panov, adding that the topic was actively discussed at working meetings between the municipalities.

On the basis of the in-depth work in recent months, NSORB has already compiled a clear picture of the changes that are emerging. The initial calculations that were made in the municipalities showed a significant increase in the fee for households - between 2 and 7 times (in the villages more than 10 times).

For the successful implementation of the new bases for determining MSW, a large number of municipalities took measures to change their household waste management systems, with a focus on separate collection and optimization of garbage collection. Municipalities also invested in infrastructure modernization, including the purchase of new containers and vehicles equipped with new waste measurement technologies.

The Chairman of the Board of NSORB also stated that field work in all municipalities has also shown groups of problems in the regulatory framework, the resolution of which should precede or run parallel to the introduction of the "polluter pays" principle.

These were also our main reasons for requesting a postponement, the entry into force of the new foundations is delayed by 1 year. Fortunately, we met with understanding from both the Minister of Finance and the people's representatives from all parliamentary groups - the postponement was accepted with a remarkable majority of over 170 deputies from all parliamentary groups, added Engineer Panov.

In 2024, the implementation of the activities under the NSORB project "Models for optimizing the municipal waste management process by municipalities in Bulgaria" began, which is financed by the PES 2021-2027. In the last two months, we collected information from the municipalities on the current state of the systems. Based on the systematized information, by the end of November this year an analysis of the current situation will be prepared, deficits will be identified and the need for additional investments will be outlined.

Despite progress on the subject, there are still many challenges ahead, as well as new opportunities that require our attention and efforts. It is important to understand that the municipalities must remain ready and continue their active work in the next year 2025 in order to achieve this ambitious change. On behalf of NSORB, I can assure you that we have already prepared and the Management Board has adopted a Plan with the priority proposals for us to improve the regulatory regulation in order to achieve our set goals for change (More information: HERE). I am sure that with joint efforts and support from the state, we will be able to successfully implement this important reform to the end, concluded Daniel Panov.

It is clear that 2024 is the year of the waste, and the municipalities have been assigned an enormous number of activities for their management. In the current municipal mandate, you are faced with many challenges, said the Minister of Environment and Water, Petar Dimitrov. He stated that the NSORB is extremely active and the work with the ministry's team is extremely serious and effective.

The Minister of the Environment emphasized that in the upcoming reform the municipalities bear the main responsibilities and the challenges before them are too many. He announced that a working group for amendments to the Law on Waste Management is about to start operating. According to him, it is necessary to think about providing effective mechanisms for sanctioning violators of the mayors.