Environment Minister: Flow of Municipal Waste Down by Some 6 Per Cent Annually  in Last Couple of Years

Sofia, July 9 (BTA) - Environment and Water Minister Ivelina
Vassileva Thursday took part in a seminar on "Sustainable
Management of Municipal Waste: Good Practices from Bulgaria and
France", organized by the Ministry of Environment and Water and
the French Embassy. Vassileva and French Ambassador here Xavier
Lapeyre de Cabanes unveiled the forum at the French Institute in
 Sofia.

The Environment Minister said that the last couple of years have
 seen a drop by around 6 per cent annually in the flow of
municipal waste, and Eurostat data show that in 2013 Bulgaria
recycled 24 per cent of its waste. She noted that 171 out of all
 municipalities have systems for separate waste collection,
which accounts for around 6 million and a half of the
population.

Vassileva said that the European Commission is expected to
release a new legislative package by this year's end that will
be aimed at achieving more and better results for the
introduction of circular economy. She noted that on the European
 scale there is active work for the introduction of the
principles of resource efficiency and circular economy.

The Environment Minister went on to say that the system
introduced in Bulgaria currently gives results both in the
organization for package utilization and in the separate waste
collection. Bulgaria is heading in a positive direction, with
the target for 2020 being to reduce by 50 per cent the flow of
household waste that goes to depots, to reduce the amount of
biodegradable waste and to reuse and recycle construction waste.
 

Taking a journalist's question, Vassileva said her ministry is
considering the introduction of sanction mechanisms that will
support municipalities' efforts to handle the problem with poor
people, who collect plastic bottles from the waste containers.
Vassileva noted that such provisions could be introduced in the
Waste Management Act, but this is also a matter of decision of
the local authorities through their ordinances on public
cleanliness.