Treatment of solid waste from production

1.1.1. Blagoevgrad region
The obligations of the local self-government bodies and the local administration include the organization of environmentally friendly management of the domestic and construction waste generated in the respective administrative-territorial unit. In this regard, the mayor of the municipality develops and implements a Waste management program (according to Article 52, paragraph 1 of the WMA). It is an integral part of the municipal environmental program and its period of action coincides with the period of action of the National Waste Management Plan 2014-2020. In 2017, 8 municipal wasxte management programs were updated, in 2018 – 2 programs, and in 2019 no updates of municipal programs were made. Until 31-st of March each year, the mayor of the municipality reports to the municipal council for his actions for waste management program implementation. The mayors, included in regional associations such as Regional System for Waste Management (RSWM)-Razlog for the municipalities of Razlog, Bansko, Belitsa and Yakoruda 2016-2020, RSWM-Gotse Delchev for the municipalities of Gotse Delchev, Garmen and Hadzhidimovo 2014-2020, have developed common waste management programs, where the obligations, responsibilities and measures affecting the individual municipalities are clearly distinguished. At the moment, all municipalities have adopted regulations applicable to waste management.
At this stage in the municipalities falling within the scope of RIEW-Blagoevgrad, still are not constructed sites for free transfer of separately collected waste from households, incl. bulky waste, hazardous waste and others in settlements with a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants, as required by Art. 19, para. 3, item 11 of the WMA.
As a result of the inspections carried out in 2019, it can be summarized that the persons placing on the market widespread waste fulfill their obligations by participating in collective systems represented by organizations for utilization of waste or paying the due product fee to the EMEPA. On the territory of RIEW-Blagoevgrad there are no persons who perform their duties individually.
Separate waste collection
The municipalities are obliged to organize separate collection of waste from packaging for settlements with more than 5,000 inhabitants according to the requirements of the WMA and the Ordinance on packaging and waste from packaging. This requirement is met for all municipalities in Blagoevgrad region. Based on the inspections carried out in 2019 on the implementation of the system for separate collection of waste from packaging, the information by municipalities is as follows: Bansko municipality (90.5% of the population is covered by separate collection systems), Belitsa municipality (7%), Blagoevgrad municipality (91.96%), Gotse Delchev municipality (92.5%), Gurmen municipality (60%), Kresna municipality (77.5%), Petrich municipality (62.4%), Razlog municipality (88%), Sandanski municipality (89.7%), Simitli municipality (83.4%), Strumyani municipality (73.1%), Hadzhidimovo municipality (59%), Yakoruda municipality (70%) .
Domestic waste
The system for organized waste collection and transportation covers about 99% of the population in the territory controlled by RIEW-Blagoevgrad. The transportation of the domestic waste is carried out to regional landfills for non-hazardous waste, operating on the territory of RIEW-Blagoevgrad. Blagoevgrad municipality delivers domestic waste for pre-treatment activities before deposition at Regional Landfill for Non-hazardous Waste (RLNW)-Kostinbrod. In the settlements with small population and / or difficult to access geographical location (mountainous areas), typical for the municipalities of Sandanski, Strumyani, Petrich, Simitli, it is difficult to carry out organized waste disposal activities. For those settlements the collection and transportation of waste is carried out by the request of the respective mayor or deputy mayor.
On the territory of RIEW Blaoevgrad are located the following landfills: Regional landfill for non-hazardous and inert waste for the municipality of Petrich; RLNW for the municipality of Gotse Delchev, Hadzhidimovo, Garmen; RLNW for the municipalities of Sandanski, Strumyani and Kresna; RLNW for the municipalities of Razlog, Bansko, Belitsa, Yakoruda and Regional landfill – Blagoevgrad, providing services to the municipalities of Blagoevgrad, Simitli, Rila, Kocherinovo and Boboshevo. The described systems meet the regulatory requirements and have a IPPC permit. In 2019, a Useage Permit with № DK-07-Bl-99 / 29.08.2019 was issued to the “Regional Waste Management System (RWMS), Blagoevgrad Region, covering the municipalities: Blagoevgrad, Simitli, Rila, Kocherinovo and Boboshevo – Stage I ”, including Cell № 1.
In 2019 on the territory of RIEW – Blagoevgrad still are not constructed facilities for construction waste treatment. Currently, only on the territory of RLNW-Razlog is available and in operation composting facility for biodegradable waste.
Construction waste:
In Blagoevgrad region as a weak point can be mentioned the lack of installations and facilities for treatment of construction waste which continues in 2019 as well. The generated construction waste is mainly handed over for disposal to landfills for inert waste or to the RLNW. Practice shows that separate collection by type of construction waste is almost not carried out, neighter from thr companies nor by the population. Only metal waste generated by construction activities is 100% recovered.
Main unsolved problems with hazardous waste (domestic and industrial) on the territory of RIEW.
There is no center and / or facility for hazardous waste disposal on the territory of RIEW-Blagoevgrad. The companies face difficulties in handing over those waste for further treatment, as the generated quantities are small, the persons entitled to treat such waste are situated in remote parts of the country, which leads to a higher cost of the service. This contributes to their storage at the place of generation for a longer period of time, which is contrary to legal requirements.
The municipalities have not taken concrete and effective actions in connection with the regulations governing the treatment and transportation of widespread waste – waste oil and waste petroleum products, accumulators, batteries, fluorescent lamps and others. The practice of conducting annual campaigns together with recovery organizations is accepted. On the territory of RIEW-Blagoevgrad there are no sites for gratuitous transfer of separately collected waste from households, incl. bulky waste, hazardous waste and others in settlements with a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Waste should be transferred directly to the sites without wasting time and seeking a solution, or to be disposed of in the environment or treated in ways that lead to environmental pollution in violation of the legislation.

Source: [1] PROJECT REPORT on STUDY AND ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF THE MAIN SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE CROSS-BORDER BORGER OF GREECE AND BULGARIA AND THE ROLE OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN SOLVING THESE PROBLEMS; Sofia, September 2020г.

1.1.2. Smolyan region

All municipalities controlled by RIEW – Smolyan have developed and implement a Waste Management Program, corresponding to of the structure and objectives of the National Waste Management Plan (NWMP), with a term until 2020. This aims to fullfill the processes for implementation of measures and control for protection of the environment and human health by preventing or reducing the harmful impact from the generation and management of the waste, regulated in the WMA.
Separate collection of waste
On the basis of concluded contracts with recovery organizations, continues the separate collection waste from packaging in the municipalities of Satovcha and Lucky. In 2019, the recovery organizations unilaterally terminated its contracts with the municipalities of Smolyan, Madan and Rudozem.
Systems for separate collection of paper, plastic, glass and metal waste from the population, commercial sites, industrial and administrative buildings in the municipalities of Smolyan, Zlatograd, Ardino, Rudozem and Devin have been introduced.
According to the requirements of Art. 19, para. 3, point 11 of WMA the settlements with population more than 10,000 inhabitants should have sites for free transfer of separately collected waste from households (paper, plastic, glass, obsolete electrical and electronic equipment, green waste, bulky waste and etc.). The scope of the RIEW includes only the city of Smolyan, and in fulfillment of this obligation the municipality has provided two sites, based on concluded contracts for acceptance of waste with licensed companies.
There are six municipalities that have concluded contracts with organizations for separate collection of unusable batteries and accumulators – Smolyan, Devin, Borino and Lucky, Satovcha and Chepelare. The municipalities of Smolyan, Devin, Lucky, Satovcha and Chepelare have concluded contracts with organizations for the introduction of a system for separate collection of obsolete electrical and electronic equipment. Campaigns for the collection of obsolete electrical and electronic equipment are organized.
A practice has been established in all municipalities on the territory of RIEW – Smolyan to carry out separate collection of green waste from public areas, parks and gardens and to deposit it on municipal land for their natural decomposition.
Domestic waste
The collection and transportation of domestic waste is the responsibility of the municipalities. The number of the population served by the garbage collection and disposal system is 144463, which represents 99.89% of the total population. Nine of all 308 settlements are not covered by the system, due to the low number of inhabitants and the difficult accessibility, of which – one in Smolyan municipality – Chuchur village, two in Rudozem municipality – Dobreva cheresha village and seven villages in Ardino municipality: Avramovo, Doyrantsi, Latinka, Lyubino, Mak, Pesnopoy, Temenuga.
Due to the mountainous nature of the territory, the collection of domestic waste is carried out with small, easily passable garbage trucks. This requires congestion of waste from municipalities that are remote from regional landfills. Such are the municipalities of Devin and Ardino, which have issued documents under Article 35 of the WMA for transshipment sites for municipal waste.
The installations for disposal of domestic waste on the territory of the inspection are as follows:
 Regional landfill for non-hazardous waste – Rudozem, located in the village of Barchevo – deposition of the waste of the municipality of Rudozem;
 Regional Landfill for Non-Hazardous Waste Madan – deposition of the waste of the municipalities of Madan, Zlatograd and Nedelino;
 Regional Landfill for Non-Hazardous Waste Smolyan – deposition of the waste of the municipalities of Smolyan, Chepelare and Banite;
 Regional Landfill for Non-Hazardous Waste, Dospat, located in the village of Barutin – deposition of the waste of the municipalities of Dospat, Devin, Borino, Satovcha and Sarnitsa
The municipality of Lucky deposited of its domestic waste at the regional landfill Asenovgrad, and the waste from the municipality of Ardino is disposed of at the regional landfill Kardzhali.
All municipalities participate in regional associations

Sludge from WWTP

Disposal of WWTP sludge in the cities of Smolyan, Madan, Zlatograd, Rudozem and Pamporovo is carried out by depositing the regional landfills on the territory of RIEW – Smolyan. The collected sludge from the waste water treatment plants in settlements in the municipality of Devin and the municipality of Satovcha are cleaned with a specialized machine and transported for additional treatment to other treatment plants. In 2019 no sludge has been transferred from the treatment of wastewater for utilization in agriculture and for reclamation of disturbed terrains.
The planned drying fields to the waste water treatment plants are only for emergency situations and it is not possible to use them for additional stabilization of the sludge.

Construction waste
There are no landfills for construction and inert waste on the territory of RIEW – Smolyan. The generated construction waste is disposed of at the regional landfills for non-hazardous waste.
Ardino Municipality has issued by RIEW – Smolyan registration document №11-РД-328-00 from 01.12.2017 for collection and temporary storage of construction waste / concrete, bricks, tiles, faience and ceramics, etc./ for the site, located in location “Mekteb Yan”, land of the city of Ardino.
There are no operating installations for utilization of construction waste on the territory of the inspection. In 2019, continues the control on received signals and complaints for contaminated areas with construction waste. For established unregulated pollution with such waste, prescription have been given, which are fulfilled. Most of the detected pollutions with waste are of a mixed nature – construction and domestic waste.

1.1.3. Haskovo and Kardzhali regions

Separate waste collection

In the municipalities of Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad, Svilengrad, Lyubimets, Momchilgrad and Kardzhali, have been implemented and functioning systems for separate collection of waste for packaging on the basis of concluded contracts with recovery organizations. Harmanli Municipality has introduced an independent system for separate collection of domestic waste and waste from packaging from the population. Two smaller municipalities with settlements of more than 5,000 inhabitants have not yet introduced separate waste collection systems.
For the fulfillment of the obligations for separate collection of the waste from packaging on the territory controlled by the inspection, separate collection systems have been introdused and are servised by recovery organizations in six municipalities – Dimitrovgrad, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Svilengrad, Momchilgrad and Lyubimets. In the municipalities of Dimitrovgrad, Haskovo, Svilengrad and Lyubimets, systems for separate collection of waste from packaging have been introdused on the basis of concluded contracts. Systems for separate collection of other groups of widespread waste (End-of life vehicles, WEEE, NUBA) are not introduced by the municipalities, and their functions are now performed by the business. Each company that has constructed the relevant site for the treatment of these waste streams decides whether to conclude a contract with one of the recovery organizations or directly with individuals for final utilization/deposition of waste.

Domestic waste

The regional associations of the municipalities in Haskovo region operate two facilities for solid waste disposal – in the land of Garvanovo village, Haskovo municipality, which serves the municipalities of Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and Mineralni Bani and in the land of Harmanli, serving the municipality. Harmanli, Lyubimets, Stambolovo, Svilengrad, Madzharovo, Simeonovgrad and Topolovgrad.
On the territory of the landfill near the village of Garvanovo, municipality Haskovo operates facilities for composting “green” waste and an installation for separation of domestic waste with the production of RDF – fuel from waste. The capacity of the separation instalation is the treatment of a minimum of 35,000 t / y of domestic waste, or more than half of the transported quantities for disposal.
There is also a separation instalation for domestic waste on the territory of the landfill for solid waste in Harmanli. The capacity of the facility is over 25,000 t / year in one-shift operational regime of work. In 2019 The municipalities of Harmanli and Svilengrad started the construction activities under the project “Construction of a municipal facility for composting green and biodegradable waste” under Procedure № BG16M10P002-2.005 “Design and construction of composting plants for separately collected green and / or biodegradable priority waste” under Operational Program “Environment 2014-2020”.
On the territory of the RIEW in Kardzhali region is located a Regional landfill for non-hazardous waste for the municipalities of Kardzhali, Ardino, Dzhebel, Ivaylovgrad, Kirkovo, Krumovgrad, Momchilgrad and Chernoochene. The landfill does not yet have a facility for pre-treatment of incoming domestic waste, which is why recyclable materials are not separated before disposal. In 2019, a facility for mechanical biological treatment of “green” waste was installed, which is still not working.
In 2019 in all 17 municipalities were carried out inspections for the establishment of pollution with waste on the riverbeds and their adjacent territories, in connection with the control of certain prescriptions for organizing their cleaning in case of established ones. During the inspections it was established that it is not allowed to disposal of doemstic and construction waste in the river beds and on their banks, passing through the settlements.
RIEW-Haskovo carries out control in all municipalities by settlements for the presence of unregulated landfills, regarding a letter from the MoEW. Instructions were given to 12 municipalities (Dimitrovgrad, Harmanli, Simeonovgrad, Mineralni Bani, Momchilgrad, Stambolovo, Kardzhali, Ivaylovgrad, Topolovgrad, Haskovo, Svilengrad and Lyubimets) for cleaning the established unregulated landfills.
According to the annual environmental report of a regional landfill in the village of Garvanovo in the period January-December 2019, were disposed 31,803.67 tons of solid waste in cell I, and the distribution by municipalities is as follows: 11340,248 tons of Dimitrovgrad Municipality, 1373,355 tons from the Municipality of Mineralni Bani and 19,090,067 tons from the Municipality of Haskovo. The acceptance of the waste on the landfill is based on pre-specified schedule and an accepted application by the holder of the waste and on the basis of a written contract. In 2019, after preliminary treatment in the separating installation were separated and handed over for utilization 648,821 tons of paper and cardboard, RDF fuel – 6011,170 tons, 619,09 tons of plastic and rubber, 34,968 tons of glass, 25,670 tons of color metals and 232,201 tons of ferrous metals.
According to the annual environmental report submitted by the operator of the Harmanli landfill, a total of 14,443,800 tons of solid waste were disposed of last year. The quantity by municipalities is as follows: 5202,361 t – from Harmanli Municipality; 1145,828 tons – from the Municipality of Lyubimets; 264,182 tons – from the Municipality of Madzharovo; 4189,553 tons – from the Municipality of Svilengrad; 1384,097 tons – from the Municipality of Simeonovgrad; 826,281 tons from the Municipality of Stambolovo; 1431,498 tons – from the Municipality of Topolovgrad. The acceptance of the waste takes place according to a pre-specified schedule and accepted application with the owner of the waste and on the basis of a written contract. In 2019, 19,250.82 tons were accepted at the separation installation, of which: 202,580 tons of paper and cardboard, 362.96 tons of polymeric materials (packaging), 80.48 tons of ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste and 68, 8 tons of waste glass.
According to the annual environmental report submitted by the operator of the landfill in Kardzhali in 2019, a total of 35,749.14 tons of solid waste were disposed of. The quantity by municipalities is as follows: Municipality of Kardzhali – 21197.08 tons; Municipality of Ardino – 2351.42 tons; Municipality of Krumovgrad – 2875.69 tons; Kirkovo Municipality – 4238.00 tons; Momchilgrad Municipality – 3138.41 tons; Municipality of Jebel – 1705.94 tons. and the Municipality of Ivaylovgrad – 242.60 tons. The acceptance of the waste takes place according to a pre-specified schedule and an accepted application with the owner of the waste and on the basis of a written contract.
On the territory of RIEW-Haskovo there is only one facility for treatment of “green” waste, which is used by the municipalities of Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and Mineralni Bani. In these municipalities, the separate collection and storage of “green” waste is organized by placing “brown” containers, which are serviced by specialized vehicles.
Construction waste:
On the territory of RIEW – Haskovo there are no facilities for construction waste treatment. The generated construction waste is disposed of in places determined by the mayors of the municipalities. During the year there was no utilization of construction waste from demolition of old buildings by mobile facilities.