The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is inspecting 8 landfills for household waste, included in the criminal procedure against our country

The Ministry of Environment and Water is checking the progress on the implementation of the technical reclamation projects of the last 8 old landfills for domestic waste. They are in the municipalities of Byala (Varna), Pernik, Velingrad, Dupnitsa, Pirdop, Boboshevo, Kocherinovo and Kardjali, the environmental department announced.

At the beginning of August, the Minister of Environment and Water, Rositsa Karamfilova, met with the mayors because of the delayed reclamation of the old municipal landfills. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications demanded from the municipalities a schedule of activities and started weekly inspections.

After on-site inspections by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of the landfills in Pernik, Dupnitsa and Boboshevo, it was established that there is significant mobilization and progress in the implementation of construction activities at all three landfills.

For the landfill in Pernik, regardless of the unfavorable weather conditions in recent days and the heavy rains, there is progress, which corresponds to the schedule presented to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. At the landfill in Boboshevo, the builder has provided the necessary equipment, the terrain is flat, which allows to work at a good pace. Equipment and workers are provided at the depot in Dupnitsa, and the activities are carried out with good organization and on schedule.

An inspection of the landfill in Velingrad found that finishing works are being carried out, and the commitment made by the municipal management is to finalize the technical reclamation activities by the middle of September.

At the landfill in Byala (Varna region), the field work has been completed and an act no. 15 has already been issued for completed technical reclamation.

The inspection of the municipal depot in Kardzhali found progress in the planned construction and assembly works (SMR), which are being carried out according to the commitment made by the municipality. For the landfill in the municipality of Kocherinovo, there is a construction permit from the end of August and there is a set date for the start of the activities within the next week. A delay was reported in the start of the activities to implement the reclamation of the landfill in the municipality of Pirdop.

With regular, weekly inspections, daily communication and the established organization, the MoEW aims to speed up the process of completing the reclamation of the old municipal waste landfills. With the efforts of the local authorities, the activities must be completed in the shortest possible time without compromising the quality of the construction works.

A year ago, the EC warned that our country is about to be brought before the Court of the EU for the payment of significant financial sanctions due to the still unreclaimed 43 landfills for non-hazardous waste out of a total of 113 included in the criminal procedure*. After the completion of the technical reclamation of the landfill in Byala, there are currently only 7 such landfills left, for which Bulgaria must make maximum efforts to complete them, so that the amount of sanctions is reduced.

The reclamation of 7 landfills is financed by the Operational Program "Environment (OPE) 2014-2020", and the landfill in Kardzhali by the municipal budget.

*Immediate actions on the projects are required in connection with a decision of the Court of the EU from July 16, 2015, by which Bulgaria was condemned for failure to fulfill its commitments regarding the closure and reclamation of the old municipal landfills. The country was condemned for 113 municipal waste landfills because they were not closed by July 2009. According to the commitments made by Bulgaria to the EC, after the first decision of the Court, all 113 landfills have ceased operation as of 2017, but until December 31, 2020 .should have been reclaimed.