What can Macedonia do with waste disposal and treatment?

Too active and potentially threatening and most often illegal landfills without any initiative for a solution. The Rusino landfill, Vardarishte or the latest case of the illegal landfill in Karposh are just a few of the numerous environmental disasters across the country.

According to some estimates, there are about 200 such illegal landfills across the country. Due to negligence, ignorance and lack of awareness, all the waste that is produced every day, as the easiest solution is thrown away as it is without any processing, and too often this waste is burned. It is an even bigger problem than the existence of landfills in every town and village, in every and smallest settlement. With the uncontrolled burning of landfills, the environmental problem turns into a very serious health problem. This type of waste incineration releases highly toxic organic compounds that pollute the air in the open air without any control. We inhale this emission of harmful ingredients every day.

Even if it does not burn and does not burn, the waste is thrown on the soil and accumulated, creating a discharge that flows into surface and groundwater and pollutes crops and thus crops, which again causes damage to human health. The emergency alarm has been on for a long time, but what can and should be done to properly manage waste? The establishment of regional waste management centers with a recycling unit is part of the national strategy, but it is taking place too slowly and the damage is too great. For full operation of these centers, it will take up to 4-5 years. Do we have time to wait that long and expose ourselves to serious health threats? Proper waste management at the national level is becoming a topical issue for the country and in terms of EU integration. Reducing emissions, recycling and processing waste and much more are part of Chapter 27, part of the pre-accession negotiations with the EU. And what Macedonia can do now for waste management that is in accordance with Chapter 27 we talked with Jadranka Ivanova, one of the largest experts in the Republic of Macedonia in this area:

The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning in the past period with the help of the EU - IPA funds prepared all the necessary planning and project documents for the establishment of a regionally integrated waste management system for 6 regions in the Republic of Northern Macedonia. Therefore, the ministry should continue and work more intensively on the implementation of these documents. Namely, for the East and Northeast region, again through IPA funds, the procedures for creating the necessary waste management infrastructure have already started, as well as providing support to public enterprises and municipalities in these two regions. For 4 regions (Vardar, Pelagonija, Skopje and Southwest) the realization of the prepared documents should start immediately, where the IPA III funds are an ideal opportunity for financing. Achieving the waste collection, collection, and recycling targets required by EU legislation can only be achieved through regional waste management. The municipalities have the primary obligation to deal with waste and they have no other option but to cooperate and thus jointly achieve the required goals and protect them from negative impacts, both citizens and the environment in their areas. The Ministry should have a clear and consistent policy in the implementation of the laws on waste management, on the developed projects and to provide support to the municipalities. We should all strive to create less waste, but we do not currently have the basic infrastructure for safe waste disposal. Drisla is the only landfill that meets certain standards. We can not avoid regional landfills. The prepared documents propose locations that provide the safest waste disposal with the lowest costs for citizens. European legislation and the circular economy are rapidly demanding greater use of waste and its minimal disposal. With that, the landfills themselves will gradually be less used and needed, but we should have them as a basic waste management infrastructure. With the start of negotiations with the EU on Chapter 27 - Environment and Climate Change, we will be able to negotiate only for the deadline in which we will have to achieve the waste management objectives set by EU law, but not the percentage or quantity of objectives that will we need to achieve them, nor the way of depositing. That is why immediate action is necessary. The state of waste management can not be worse than it is now, which is a result of the current way of waste management. - Jadranka Ivanova, an expert in environmental approximation

However, an urgent and institutional solution is needed. One solution, and perhaps the only one at the moment in order to immediately stop the negative impact of the waste on the air and the environment, is to treat the waste by baling. This method, which is an immediately applicable and environmentally friendly solution, involves compressing the waste and sticking it in a plastic film which immediately stops the impact of the waste (odor, risk of fire, drainage, water, and soil pollution). The company PP Industry has the experience, expert knowledge, and equipment in Macedonia for the establishment of this system.

“Waste baling has several advantages that make it the most appropriate solution. This balling system is widely used in Europe with applications in France, Norway, Italy, and Spain. Above all, this is a quick and flexible solution: It takes 15 days to install a baling unit. Then, this is a flexible unit, ie it can work as needed. The capacity is 35 t / h (140,000 tons per year). For example, with 1 baling unit, you can process the waste of 300,000 inhabitants. When the waste is bailed, it is compressed and sealed in plastic wrap and rolled into rolls. The volume is reduced to 3-4 times (less space required for storage and/or transport). There is almost no air, which reduces the organic reactions in the waste. The waste is enclosed in plastic wrap with no smell, no risk of burning, the animals can not eat the waste, there is no drainage of the waste with atmospheric water and the like. A simple plastic selection unit can be installed in front of the baling unit, enabling the plastic to be recycled and recycled, thus generating additional resources and developing employment opportunities. We at PP Industries are convinced that this system can be a good and immediate solution until the regional waste centers are implemented “, says PP Industry. PP Industries is an engineering company with extensive experience in waste management of controlled landfills, recycling, renewable and alternative energy, monitoring, and compliance with an environmentally friendly environment. The company applies methodologies aimed at protecting the soil, water, and air, and their success has been confirmed by Western and Nordic European countries where they have been used for a long time. There is a way to solve the problem of illegal landfills and waste incineration, there is a safe method, acceptable by eco-standards, it only takes willpower.

Original article published on:
https://opserver.mk/makedonija/shto-mozhe-makedonija-da-stori-so-otstranuvanjeto-i-tretmanot-na-otpadot/

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Even after two decades, very little has changed in practice regarding waste management. Then, as now, we have only one landfill – Drisla, which meets certain standards.

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Even after two decades, very little has changed in practice regarding waste management. Then, as now, we have only one landfill – Drisla, which meets certain standards.

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