New report: There are drastic discrepancies in the data on household waste recycling in Bulgaria

Low requirements and significant gaps in data lead to the drastic difference between the high results with packaging waste recycling that Bulgaria reports to Brussels, and the poor achievements that are observed at the local level.

A new report of Ecological Association "For the Earth" reveals serious problems with official data on household waste management in Bulgaria and shows the need for deep reform of the existing system.

Discrepancies

While our country claims 61.4% recycling of packaging waste, in half of the Bulgarian municipalities the recycling levels of plastic, metal, paper and glass are below 10%, and in 43 of them recycling is practically zero. These parallel realities are made possible by significant discrepancies in statistics combined with inadequate minimum legal requirements for exploiting organizations.

To cope with the quantities of packaging waste, the number, distribution and frequency of service of separate collection containers should be increased 2-3 times and available in all settlements. Due to the lack of working separate collection, the naturally low efficiency of separation plants (3-5%) means that our economy is losing out on the incineration and landfilling of potentially valuable plastic raw materials. Many municipalities continue to rely on landfilling, and additional aggravating factors are waste incineration projects, including in Pavlikeni, Galabovo and Sliven, which undermine efforts to reduce and recycle domestic waste generated in the country. As a result, more and more public funds are spent on dealing with packaging waste, ultimately resulting in a 'household waste' charge. Despite the significant, even for Europe, public costs for waste management in Bulgaria, only 4.8% of the materials are returned to the economy - more than twice less than the average for the European Union and five times less than the leading country, the Netherlands.

Emergency measures

The issues of correct reporting of data, as well as the fair distribution of responsibilities and financial resources between producers, local authorities and consumers, await an urgent solution. The report warns that without drastic improvements in organization and control, Bulgaria will fail to meet new waste management standards and will continue to lag behind in achieving a circular economy.