ISPA INFORMATION SHEET Measure No 2000/BG/16/P/PE/002

Measure title: Waste management: Set of 6 regional waste disposal sites located in Montana, Ruse, , Sevlievo, and in .

Authority responsible for implementation

Name: Ministry of Environment and Water

Address: 67 William Gladstone St., 1000, Bulgaria

E-mail: [email protected]

Description

The measure concerns the construction of 6 new regional landfills which are intended to replace 113 existing disposal sites serving the target areas. The measure is an essential part of the Bulgarian National Waste Management Programme. One of the axes of this programme aims at building or reconstructing 37 regional landfills and reducing the solid waste network from the existing 700 sites down to about 50 new disposal sites.

Four of the new landfills will deal with non-hazardous waste only. In Sevlievo and Ruse, on the other hand, separate disposal cells for hazardous waste are included. These new landfills will provide the capacity for disposal and storage of hazardous, construction and production waste which is currently unavailable in the target areas.

Objectives

The main objective of the measure is to achieve solid waste management in full compliance with EU and Bulgarian Regulations and thus avoid potential environmental damage from landfills. The measure will lead to the closure of the oldest and most polluted disposal sites, many of which have reached full capacity, and allow the restoration of the areas presently occupied by these sites.

The new regional landfills will serve more extended areas, with considerable advantages in terms of scale economies. They will, moreover, help to diminish the pollution of the Danube river (new disposal sites at Ruse and Silistra), and of the Black Sea (new disposal site in Sozopol).

Table: Main elements of the Projects included in the ISPA Measure

Location Hazard. / Old sites Populat. New Landfill Non To close Served capacity Hazard. (000 m3) waste Montana NH 22 67,000 950 Pernik NH 17 120,000 1560 Ruse H – NH 15 216,000 2337 Sevlievo H – NH 16 38,000 852 Silistra NH 35 78,000 1223 Sozopol NH 8 48,000 1323 Total 113 567,000 8245

1 Contracts for the 6 landfills works, the Waste transfer station works in Sozopol and for the Supervision of the 7 works contracts are expected to be tendered in May 2001, with construction work starting before the end of 2001.

Economic and social cost-benefit analysis

Although the benefits of this measure are difficult to quantify, they will include the following:

• Improvements to the local state of the environment and human health by reducing environmental pollution from solid (and hazardous) waste. • Reduction in the pollution of groundwater and soils, as well limitations on the potential damage to bio-diversity in the project areas. • Additional income generated by job creation and procurement. • The projects will help Bulgaria to meet the criteria for accession into the EU, meeting EU regulations on environmental standards.

The measure will sustain an estimated 75 temporary jobs during the construction phase plus 11 general permanent positions for each project.

Environmental impact analysis

The projects involving only non hazardous waste (Montana, Pernik, Silistra and Sozopol) fall within the scope of Annex II of EC Directive N°85/337 as amended by Directive N° 97/11. The projects involving hazardous waste (Sevlievo and Ruse) fall within the scope of Annex I of EC Directive N°85/337. The Environmental Impact Assessments have been carried out for each project, including public consultations, and the main recommendations have been taken into account.

The new landfills included in the measure will meet the basic technical standards of EC Directives, in particular the EC Framework Directive on Waste 75/442 as amended by EC Directive 91/556, the EC Directive on Landfill of Waste 1999/31, and the EC Directive on Hazardous Waste 91/689.

Cost and assistance

Total cost Private Non eligible Total eligible ISPA grant Grant Rate sector expenditure cost % contribution

62 775 837 - 2 198 324 60 577 513 45 433 135 75

The measure forms part of the Bulgarian National Waste Management Programme (1999-2002) which will cost approximately Euro 340 million.

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