WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 2016
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 41 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 2 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION
2016
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 3 Financed by: This publication is part of the project titled: “Strengthen Strategic Development and Cross Municipal/Community Cooperation and Partnership”. The project is part of Advancing Kosovo Together – Local Solutions program funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Community Development Fund (CDF).
Disclaimer: 2.2.3 Sensitivity analysis The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of supporters.
Contributors: Diellza Gashi, Alban Hashani, Agneta Bytyqi and Ilija Mladenović
Design and layout: Faton Selani
The original is written in English
Published by: RIINVEST INSTITUTE Lidhja e Prizrenit no. 42 * * Prishtina/Priština 10000, Republic of Kosovo Tel: + 381 (0)38 244320; 223816 www.riinvestinstitute.org
Copyright ©2016 by RIINVEST INSTITUTE. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 4 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 1. INTRODUCTION 8
2. CURRENT SITUATION 9 2.1 Municipal level 9 2.2 Common Problems/ Bottlenecks 27
3. BEST REGIONAL PRACTICES 28
4. JOINT OPPORTUNITIES 30
REFERENCES 31
APPENDICES 32
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 5 Amount of waste produced in Kosovo 0.9 kg/day Average amount of waste produced per year by one person in Kosovo 334 kg.
Amount of waste produced per year in Kosovo
606.000 tons
6SOURCE: MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL PLANNING (2013) 0.28% Hazardous Waste 42.0% Biodegradable 5.59% Metal
(%) 12.3% of waste Other 6.57% by type Glass (2012) 6.75% Textile 11.0% Plastic
Amount of waste 15.0% produced within a year in Paper/ Wood Prishtina/Priština region 248.000 tons 1. INTRODUCTION
Municipalities in Kosovo face several problems which di- This report has been drafted to analyze the current situation rectly impact their performance as local governments. In a regarding waste management in 16 municipalities of Kosovo relatively high number of cases the problems are common and propose opportunities for inter-municipal cooperation. among municipalities. Although a number of municipalities The municipalities covered are Gračanica/Graçanicë, Klokot/ have introduced improved or innovative practices for their Kllokot, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Parteš/Partesh, Ranilug/Ra- own localities, very little has been done on municipalities nillug, Štrpce/Shtërpcë, Gjilan/Gnjilane, Istog/Istok, Klinë/ sharing their knowledge or resources with other municipal- Klina, Obiliq/Obilić, Pejë/Peć, Vushtrri/Vučitrn, Mitrovica ities. In other words, very little inter-municipal cooperation North, Leposavić/Leposaviq, ZubinPotok/ZubinPotok, and has been initiated between municipalities. According to the Zvečan/Zveçan. The main objective of this report is to iden- Association of Kosovo Municipalities (2010) Inter-Munic- tify joint problems municipalities face with regards to waste ipal Cooperation (IMC) refers to two or more neighboring management and engineer joint response to these common municipalities working together to perform municipal ad- problems. ministrative duties, provide public services to citizens and promote local development more efficiently and effectively The methodology used to identify problems faced with waste than performing activities on their own. IMC’s in Kosovo management involved conducting in-depth interviews with are few and dysfunctional in providing mutual services to officials responsible for waste management. In most cases, citizens and reducing municipal costs. Mainly municipalities the team conducted interview with directors for public ser- cooperate with each other in specific cases, though such vices and with an official responsible for waste management cooperation is not formal (contract, agreement of under- (when there was one). The questionnaire for the interviews standing) (Association of Kosovo Municipalities, 2010). The was conducted based on thorough analysis of local develop- legal framework for IMC’s in Kosovo is established by the Ar- ment strategies and secondary research that was available ticle 124 of Constitution which states: “Municipalities have on waste management on the municipalities of interest. The the right to inter-municipal cooperation and cross border questions were open ended and officials were encouraged cooperation, in accordance with the law”. Furthermore, the to answer every question in detail. With the consent of the Law on Local Self-Government specifies the right of mu- participants interviews were recorded and transcribed. The nicipalities to cooperate emphasizing that “municipalities main reason for recording them is to not miss any details. shall be entitled to cooperate and form partnerships with other Kosovar municipalities to earn out functions of mutual Findings from the interviews reveal that there are mainly interest, in accordance with the principles of the European two forms of cooperation between municipalities. The first Charter of Local Self Government and in accordance with one is regional companies that provide waste management the law” (Law on Local Self-Government, Article 28). services. The second form is disposing waste in common landfills. No other form of cooperation has been reported However, although little has been done regarding inter-mu- by the 16 municipalities. However, the officials from each nicipal cooperation, there are opportunities for municipali- municipality stated that they are willing to cooperate for the ties to pool their expertise and experiences to jointly solve benefits of citizens. common issues. Over time this type of inter-municipal cooperation can create the foundation for a sustainable The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section 2 pres- municipal development strategy that will encourage mu- ents, discusses, and analyses the findings from in-depth-in- nicipalities to identify and meet their own development terviews with 16 municipality officials who are responsible needs. It also encourages innovation in problem solving for waste management. The same section presents the and provides municipalities with the capacity to identify common problems faced by 16 municipalities. Section 3 and address issues together and in partnership with other provides best practices of inter-municipal cooperation re- municipalities as well as higher levels of government. Fur- garding waste in regional countries, more specifically in Cro- thermore, cost sharing will be encouraged and promoted atia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. Section 4 presents among municipalities. joint opportunities for cooperation between municipalities.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 8 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 2. CURRENT SITUATION
This section of the report depicts the current situation regarding waste in the 16 municipalities of Kosovo and common problems faced between municipalities. The analysis is based on information received from in-depth interviews held with municipality officials who are responsible for waste management.
2.1 MUNICIPAL LEVEL
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 9 PEJA/PEĆ
In Peja/Peć, waste is collected by the re- gional company Ambienti. It is important to mention that although the company is re- gional it functions more as a local company. The municipality is 100 percent owner of the company and has chosen a board which is Around 60 percent of the tax is Low level of composed only of members from Peja/Peć collected. Waste is deposited in awareness from municipality. The municipal assembly has citizens selected the committee of shareholders the Peja/Peć regional landfill in and the committee has chosen the board Old landfills and the executive director who reports to Sverk village. the board. The board reports to the director No landfill of public services who then reports to the municipal assembly. The board is selected Low level of waste through an open call. According to munici- collection pality officials, around 98 percent of waste In 2013, the municipality has is collected in rural and urban zones. Waste No board member in the company is collected based on the local dynamic plan invested around 150.000 Euros in and mainly door to door. There is only one Lack of a company collection point which is close to the facility expanding the area of the existing responsible for of the company. waste mgmt landfill. Lack of recourses to Price for the service offered is around 5.00 classify waste Euros and it is the same for all types of cus- landfills which currently are five, one very tomers. Municipality officials think that the big and four smaller ones. The large landfill Lack of resources to recycle waste flat rate for customers is not fair and have is mainly with inert waste. It is very costly decided to draft a plan for categorizing pric- to remove the waste collected. Due to lack es based on types of customers. Around of funds needed for investment the munic- Lack of transfer stations 60 percent of the tax is collected. Waste is ipality has organized an awareness cam- deposited in the Peja/Peć regional landfill in paign for the separation of waste. They are Sverk village. The landfill is open and has a also working on drafting the plan for waste Old equipment drainage system. In 2014 the municipality management which is funded by GIZ. Munic- has invested in creating a lagoon and there ipality officials stated that they are willing Low level of tax is a pumping system. However, as it has to cooperate with other municipalities for collection been used by other municipalities as well, waste management. The landfill is the conditions of the landfill have constantly managed by a deteriorated. Waste is not classified and not different organization recycled. Everything is dumped at the same Low level of place. In 2013, the municipality has invest- coverage ed around 150.000 Euros in expanding the area of the existing landfill. Lack of waste management plan Municipality officials stated that treatment of waste is very expensive and the munici- Lack of financial resources to pality does not have the funds necessary to implement the plan invest. Furthermore, the municipality needs to invest in machinery to close down illegal
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 10 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION KLINË/KLINA
In Klinë/Klina, same as in Istog/Istok, the regional company Ambienti is responsible for collecting waste. Waste collection fre- quency varies from rural to urban areas. In rural areas, waste is collected once a week. In urban areas, waste is collected every sec- Clients pay slightly less than 5.00 Low level of ond day in the main zone, which is the city Euros per month for the service awareness from center, and every third day in the second citizens zone of the city. In the rural areas most of and around 65 to 70 percent of the waste is collected door to door. In the Old landfills urban areas waste is mainly collected at the payment is collected. collection points. In terms of population, No landfill the officers mentioned that around 95 per- done. The municipality helps the branch cent of population is served by this compa- of the company in Klinë/Klina to organize Low level of waste ny. All the villages are provided the service volunteer based campaigns to clean up collection however there are some areas where the the city. Furthermore, the municipality has No board member in trucks cannot reach due to the geographical received 2,000 family waste baskets from the company position. Clients pay slightly less than 5.00 USAID. Regarding regulations, the munici- Euros per month for the service and around pality of Klinë/Klina has a plan for waste Lack of a company responsible for 65 to 70 percent of the payment is collected. management; however, it does not have a waste mgmt regulation, but they are currently working Department for public services in Klinë/ on drafting the regulation and expect to have Lack of recourses to classify waste Klina monitors the activities of Ambienti it ready by the beginning of 2016. Due to branch that is located in the municipality. no regulation on waste management the in- Lack of resources to Municipal assembly appoints three mem- spectors cannot issue tickets. Furthermore, recycle waste bers to supervise the company. These the municipality does not have an inspector members are responsible to monitor the for waste management. Inspectors that are Lack of transfer activities of the company and report during employed in the municipality are engaged in stations municipal assembly meetings. However the other sectors. municipality does not have a board member Old equipment in the company. Only Peja/Peć, as the larg- Currently, municipality of Klinë/Klina co- est shareholder of the company has board operates with Peja/Peć since Ambienti is members. The smaller municipalities such a regional company administered by Peja/ Low level of tax as Klinë/Klina, Istog/Istok, Deçan/Dećan and Peć, but not with other municipalities in the collection Junik/Junik do not have a board member. region. The municipality is willing to engage The landfill is These municipalities get to supervise only in inter-municipal activities that contribute managed by a the units of the company that are located in to a better management and treatment of different organization the respective municipalities. waste. Furthermore, municipal officials pro- Low level of posed to organize awareness campaigns coverage Waste is deposited in Peja/Peć regional that would increase the level of awareness landfill located in village Sverk. The landfill of citizens to reduce the amount of waste Lack of waste is open and has a drainage system. Mu- and throw the waste at the specified places. management plan nicipality officials stated that the landfill should be closed and a new area should Lack of financial resources to be secured. Waste dumped in the landfill implement the plan gets periodically covered with layers of soil. No prior classification or recycling is
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 11 ISTOG/ISTOK
In Istog/Istok, the regional company Ambienti is responsible for collecting waste. Ambienti of- fers services in four other municipalities Pejë/ Peć, Klinë/Klina, Deçan/Dećan and Junik/Junik. However, the company does not offer its ser- vices in the whole territory. Approximately 40 Approximately 40 percent of the Low level of percent of the territory is covered; this includes territory is covered; this includes awareness from 12 villages and the city. The company cannot citizens cover all the territory due to lack of personnel 12 villages and the city. and equipment. Most of waste is collected at Old landfills collection points. The fee of approximately 5.00 station since 2002. From this location, waste is Euros is similar to other municipalities. Around transferred to the final landfill which is located No landfill 70 percent of the payment gets collected. Mu- in village Sverk, Pejë/Peć. The temporary land- nicipality officials mentioned that the payment fill in Istog/Istok does not have a drainage sys- Low level of waste rate is higher for households located in the vil- tem that stop the waste from polluting under- collection lages than for households located in the city. ground water. Meanwhile, the landfill in Peja/ No board member in Peć has a drainage system however it does not the company Ambienti is a public regional company. As such, function properly. The landfills operate without Ministry of Economic Development (MED), fulfilling any hygiene standards. Waste is nei- Lack of a company responsible for based on the Law No. 03/L -087 on Public ther classified nor recycled when disposed in waste mgmt Enterprises, through the Unit for Policy and the landfill. However, the municipality is plan- Monitoring, is responsible for overseeing and ning to build a transfer station worth 0.5 mil- Lack of recourses to monitoring the operations of public enterprises lion Euros. The land has been secured and the classify waste that are owned by the Government of the Re- investment is planed by municipality officials Lack of resources to public of Kosovo. The company that is respon- to be financed by the government. The mu- recycle waste sible for managing the landfills is also public nicipality has also invested in opening landfills. and monitored by MED. However, besides the One landfill was opened in 2009 but it has been Lack of transfer central level monitoring, the department for closed. In 2014, another landfill was opened stations Public Services monitors the activities of the at a location that is appropriate for dumping company Ambienti. Monitoring is regulated by waste. These are just short term solutions until a memorandum of understanding which dic- a transfer station is built. A private company Old equipment tates that each municipality can monitor the has shown interest in recycling and requested unit/branch of the company that is located in land and property form the municipality that is Low level of tax the respective municipality. The municipality close the where the transfer station is planned collection is a shareholder in the company. Although le- to be built. However, the municipality is wait- The landfill is gally the company is a regional company, Is- ing for the company to start investing. If the managed by a tog/Istok does not have a board member. Only company does not invest in the next two years, different organization Peja/Peć, where the head office is located, as municipality officials will cancel the contract. Low level of the biggest municipality has board members. coverage The municipality monitors the activities of the Regarding legislation, Istog/Istok municipality unit in Istog/Istok through a committee com- has adopted a regulation for waste manage- Lack of waste posed of three members who are assigned by ment. However, it is not being implemented management plan the municipal assembly. since proper implementation requires a lot of funds. Due to lack of funds needed the regula- Lack of financial resources to Waste is temporarily deposited in the local tion is being implemented partially. As a result implement the plan landfill located in Istog/Istok. This landfill has of this, there are around 28 illegal landfills in been used by the municipality as a transfer Istog/Istok area.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 12 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION GJILAN/GNJILANE
In Gjilan/Gnjilane the regional company Eko-Higjiena is responsible for waste col- lection. This company is the first public-pri- vate company that is responsible for waste collection. Frequency of waste collection varies. For households, waste is collect- Payment for the service is Low level of ed once a week while in the center of the slightly lower than 5.00 Euros awareness from city waste is collected every day, usually in citizens large containers of 1.1 m³. The company is and according to municipality responsible for collecting waste in city parks Old landfills and cemeteries as well. The company has officials around 76 percent of relatively new equipment and compared to payment is collected. other municipalities of Kosovo they are in No landfill much better standing. The municipality has also received 4,200 new containers as part landfill is used by eleven other municipalities. Low level of waste of a grant. Regarding coverage, almost the If analyzed in territorial terms, that landfill collection entire territory of Gjilan/Gnjilane municipal- is used by 12 percent of Kosovo’s territory. ity is covered with waste collection service, The landfill is opened and waste is not clas- No board member in the company except for some geographic areas that are sified. Waste in Gjilan/Gnjilane is not recy- difficult to reach. Payment for the service is cled; however, municipality officials stated Lack of a company slightly lower than 5.00 Euros and according that Eko-Higjiena has planned to invest 1.5 responsible for to municipality officials around 76 percent of million in recycling. In year 2004, municipal- waste mgmt payment is collected. ity officials have closed down a landfill by Lack of recourses to covering nine hectares of waste. It was a de- classify waste Although the company responsible for waste tailed project. Humus was spread layer by collection, Eko-Higjiena, is a public-private layer and ventilations points were set. Once Lack of resources to company, the organizational structure is the process was completed the landfill was recycle waste similar to being a public company. The com- declared as closed. mittee of shareholders, which is composed Lack of transfer of three members, is elected from the mu- The existing landfill is managed by the pub- stations nicipal assembly. Besides shareholders, lic company responsible for managing land- there is an executive board where the largest fills. The municipality officials see this as a Old equipment shareholder has the right has the right to one problem and want to transfer management additional member one additional member. of the landfill to the municipality. Another Low level of tax The company owns 51 percent while the problem that the municipality is facing is lack collection municipality owns 49 percent of the shares. of human resources who are responsible for The landfill is The company is responsible for reporting to waste management and lack of an inspec- managed by a the municipal assembly. According to mu- tor who inspects waste dumbing. Without a different organization nicipality officials, there is a monitoring plan proper unit for waste management, where Low level of in place used to monitor the activities of the at least four people would be employed and coverage company. The municipality has given the ser- an inspector, there is little that can be done vice and client base to the company. Now the to preserve the environment from illegal Lack of waste municipality waits from the company to do dumping. Regarding legislation, besides the management plan its job properly. monitoring plan, the municipality is currently Lack of financial drafting the strategy on waste management resources to Waste collected is transferred in the regional 2015-2020. The strategy is part of the project implement the plan landfill located in Gjilan/Gnjilane. The same supported by GIZ in Kosovo.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 13 NOVO BRDO/NOVOBËRDË
In Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, the company responsible for waste collection is the pub- lic-private company from Gjilan/Gnjilane, “Eko Higijena”. Waste is collected once per week or more if needed, and is transported by truck that is in solid condition. The com- The company collects around Low level of pany collects around 1,680 tons of waste 1,680 tons of waste per year. awareness from per year. The vast majority, 95.83 percent, citizens of the population is covered by the service. The vast majority, 95.83 percent, Waste is collected in rural areas as all ter- Old landfills ritory of the municipality is actually a rural of the population is covered by area. The cost of the service is 5.00 euros the service. No landfill per household and only 37 percent of house- holds pay the fee. Waste is deposited in the Low level of waste public-regional landfill located in Gjilan/Gn- collection jilane without being classified or recycled.
No board member in the company Since the company is owned 51 percent Since the company is owned 51 privately and 49 percent by Gjilan/Gnjilane Lack of a company municipality, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë does percent privately and 49 percent responsible for not have the right to monitor it nor does it waste mgmt by Gjilan/Gnjilane municipality, have its representatives in the board. The Lack of recourses to only mechanism to protect its interests is Novo Brdo/Novobërdë does not classify waste the memorandum between the municipality and the company. Furthermore, Novo Brdo/ have the right to monitor it nor Lack of resources to Novobërdë provides premises to the com- recycle waste does it have its representatives in pany and supports them by registering their vehicles. Lack of transfer the board. stations Up to now, municipality of Novo Brdo/No- vobërdë did not establish any cooperation Old equipment with other municipalities regarding waste management. Although it is interested to Low level of tax cooperate with other municipalities, it is not collection interested to have a transfer station on the territory of its municipality. If the transfer The landfill is managed by a station would be in some other municipality different organization then municipality officials would be inter- ested to cooperate. Regarding regulations, Low level of the municipality does not have a waste coverage management plan. Lack of waste management plan
Lack of financial resources to implement the plan
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 14 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION PARTEŠ/PARTESH
In Parteš/Partesh, municipal officers pro- vide the service of waste collection and transportation. According to law in force, the municipality should not do the waste collection, but since there is no company contracted for the service municipality Regarding coverage, only 17 Low level of officials have to provide the service. Since percent (160 out of 950) of awareness from the service provider needs to have a li- citizens cense for waste disposal, the municipality the households are offered the of Parteš/Partesh is paying the public-pri- Old landfills vate company Eko Higijena for the license. service. The price for the service In return, Eko Higijena provides the billing is 3.20 Euros per household, No landfill system. Parteš/Partesh does not have a representative in the board of Eko-Higji- however only 22 percent of the Low level of waste ena. Waste is collected four days a week collection and is transported by a truck that is in solid households pay for the service. No board member in condition. Around 4.5 tons of waste per day the company is collected in the municipality of Parteš/ Lack of a company Partesh. responsible for waste mgmt Regarding coverage, only 17 percent (160 Since Parteš/Partesh is a out of 950) of the households are offered Lack of recourses to classify waste the service. The price for the service is 3.20 relatively new municipality, it did Euros per household, however only 22 per- Lack of resources to cent of the households pay for the service. not establish cooperation with recycle waste Municipality officials stated that they have any municipality regarding waste a monthly plan of operations that they fol- Lack of transfer low and municipal officers working in the management. stations department for public services monitor if the plan is being implemented. Waste is de- Old equipment posited four times a week at the public-re- management. However, officials stated gional landfill in Gjilan/Gnjilane. The landfill that they are always willing to cooperate. is open and waste is disposed without be- They would also be interested to establish Low level of tax collection ing classified. Municipality officials stated transfer stations where waste can be clas- that the department for public services has sified and stored for a limited period of time The landfill is made a proposal to the municipal assem- and then transported to treatment centers. managed by a bly to allocate land for landfills that will Regarding regulations, the municipality different organization be used for rubble, livestock manure and does not have a waste management plan. Low level of dead animals. Since the municipality pro- coverage vides the services itself it does not provide any institutional, infrastructural or financial Lack of waste support to Eko-Higjiena. The municipality management plan only pays for the license and billing system.
Lack of financial resources to Since Parteš/Partesh is a relatively new implement the plan municipality, it did not establish coopera- tion with any municipality regarding waste
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 15 RANILUG/RANILLUG
In Ranilug/Ranillug, same as in Klokot/Kl- lokot and Parteš/Partesh, there is no public company contracted to provide the service of waste collection. As such the municipal- ity needs to provide the service itself. Since the service provider needs to have a license Around 100 tons of waste per Low level of for waste disposal, the municipality has to month is collected in Ranilug/ awareness from pay Eko-Higjiena for it. The municipality, as citizens the provider of the services, has the com- Ranillug and 100 percent of the plete responsibility for waste management. Old landfills Employees of the public sector department population is covered by the report to the director of the department. No landfill service. The price for the service Waste is collected once a week and is is 3.20 Euros and almost 75 Low level of waste transported by truck that the municipality collection received as a donation from USAID. Around percent of households pay for the No board member in 100 tons of waste per month is collected service. Waste is disposed at the the company in Ranilug/Ranillug and 100 percent of the population is covered by the service. The Lack of a company public-regional landfill in Gjilan/ responsible for price for the service is 3.20 Euros and al- waste mgmt most 75 percent of households pay for the Gnjilane service. Waste is disposed at the public-re- Lack of recourses to gional landfill in Gjilan/Gnjilane. Officials are classify waste not aware of what happens to waste once Lack of resources to disposed in the landfill. The municipality has recycle waste drafted an action plan on waste manage- ment but due to limited capacities it is not Lack of transfer able to fully implement it. stations Due to a limited budget, the municipality is not able to classify waste or recycle it. Old equipment However, there is a private company that collects plastic bottles for recycling. Lack Low level of tax of human and financial capacities hinder collection Ranilug/Ranillug from building a transfer The landfill is station where waste can be classified and managed by a then transported to a treatment facility. Mu- different organization nicipality officials stated that they are will- Low level of ing to cooperate with other municipalities coverage for waste management.
Lack of waste management plan
Lack of financial resources to implement the plan
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 16 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION KLOKOT/KLLOKOT
In Klokot/Kllokot, the municipality itself provides the waste collection service as no company is contracted for the service. However, since it is necessary to have a license for waste collection and disposal, the municipality pays the regional company On average, the municipality of Low level of Eko-Higjiena, which is based in Gjilan/Gn- Klokot/Kllokot collects around awareness from jilane, for the license. In return, Eko Higjiena citizens provides the billing system. Waste is col- 980 tons of waste per year. lected once a week and transported with a Old landfills truck that is in a solid condition. On average, the municipality of Klokot/Kllokot collects No landfill around 980 tons of waste per year.
Low level of waste All of the population is covered by the ser- The municipality itself provides collection vice and waste gets collected in all areas. the waste collection service as No board member in The price for the service is 5.00 Euros and the company around 50 percent of the customers pay. no company is contracted for the Waste is deposited without being classi- Lack of a company responsible for fied at a regional landfill located in Gjilan/ service. waste mgmt Gnjilane. Since the landfill is not located in Klokot/Kllokot, municipality officials are Lack of recourses to not aware of what happens after waste is classify waste deposited in the landfill. Municipality offi- Lack of resources to cials who offer waste collection service The municipality has a plan for recycle waste are required to report to the Director of the Department for Public Services. Similar to waste management; however its Lack of transfer other municipalities, the company does not stations do any recycling. implementation is not done fully as a lot of funds are required Old equipment The municipality has a plan for waste man- agement; however its implementation is not done fully as a lot of funds are required. The Low level of tax municipality needs both human and finan- collection cial recourses to efficiently manage waste The landfill is produced. Regarding cooperation with other managed by a municipalities, Klokot/Kllokot has cooper- different organization ated with municipality of Vitia, mainly on Low level of experience exchange, and providing help coverage with waste transportation. Furthermore, they have discussed with municipality of- Lack of waste management plan ficials from Vitia to build a transfer station where waste can be classified, stored for Lack of financial a limited period of time, and transported in resources to treatment centers but both municipalities implement the plan lacked finances.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 17 ŠTRPCE/SHTËRPCË
In Štrpce/Shtërpcë, the company responsible for waste collection is the New Public Utility Company “Strpce”. This is a municipal company which was established and still operates within the system of Republic of Serbia. Director for Public Services in the municipality of Štrpce/ Almost 80 percent of the Low level of Shtërpcë mentioned that they are in the process population is covered by the awareness from of establishing a new municipal company; how- citizens ever, the Ministry of Economic Development service (13 out of 15 villages). has halted the processes of establishment of Old landfills new public enterprises for a period of time.
No landfill Waste is collected door to door and it is done once a week in the villages and two times per Low level of waste week in the main street in Štrpce/Shtërpcë. Waste is deposited two times collection Four trucks that are in very good condition a week in the regional landfill in No board member in are used to transport waste. Two trucks the company were received as a donation from USAID in Gjilan/Gnjilane Lack of a company 2011. Almost 80 percent of the population is responsible for covered by the service (13 out of 15 villag- waste mgmt es). Waste is collected in all rural areas as Štrpce/Shtërpcë is mainly a rural area. Price Lack of recourses to classify waste for the service is 3.00 Euros per household but 40 to 50 percent of households actually The parallel municipality that Lack of resources to pay for the service. Waste is deposited two recycle waste times a week in the regional landfill in Gjilan/ operates under the Government Gnjilane and occasionally in transfer station of Republic of Serbia has the Lack of transfer in Grlica/Gërlica, Štrpce/Shtërpcë. stations right to appoint the supervisory Regarding monitoring, municipality inspec- board. Old equipment tors and officials from the department of Public Services inspect the areas to see if waste is collected. Inspection is done with- Low level of tax collection out a plan but on ad hoc basis. Furthermore, the municipality does not have any plan for The landfill is waste management. The parallel municipal- managed by a ity that operates under the Government of different organization Republic of Serbia has the right to appoint the Low level of supervisory board. Even though the company coverage responsible for waste collection is not from Kosovo, the municipality of Štrpce/Shtërp- Lack of waste management plan cë provided the company with trucks, and pays the registration and maintenance of the trucks. Though the municipality has a trans- Lack of financial resources to fer station in Grlica/Gërlica, they are willing implement the plan to cooperate with other municipalities since in this way they could reduce costs.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 18 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION VUSHTRRI/VUČITRN
In Vushtrri/Vučitrn, the regional company Uniteti is responsible for collecting waste. Department for public services is responsi- ble for drafting policies and helping the com- pany deliver efficient services. Recently, the plan for waste management (2016-2020) Municipality officials stated that Low level of has been drafted and approved and now the if they continue as it has been awareness from municipality is looking for funds so that they citizens can start implementing the plan. According done for the last 15 years the to the plan, a private company is expected Old landfills to be contracted for waste collection and landfill will need to be closed management. This decision has been made down in 10 years. No landfill due inefficiency of the company caused by lack of human resources and equipment. Low level of waste Around 36 tons of waste are collected per the law on waste management as a lot of collection day by Uniteti while 54 tons are produced funds are required and the municipalities do per day. Some part of the waste is collected not have such funds. No board member in door to door while the other part at collec- the company tive containers. Municipality officer did not Waste thrown in the landfill is not classified. Lack of a company know the exact statistics on the percentage However, the plan on waste management responsible for of people that get served with waste collec- foresees waste to be classified so that one waste mgmt tion services. However, they had detailed part is used for composting. Municipality of- Lack of recourses to information on the type of waste produced ficials stated that if they continue as it has classify waste and collected. The company serves only been done for the last 15 years the landfill part of the city. That is why the municipal- will need to be closed down in 10 years. The Lack of resources to ity plans to contract a private company to officer also noted that their municipality is recycle waste collect waste. one step ahead from other municipalities since they have established a facility (fund- Lack of transfer stations For waste collection service, customers ed by a grant from European Union Office in pay around 4.5 Euros. Only 45 percent of Kosovo) for packaging of recyclable waste. the payment is actually collected. Waste is The facility is actually being equipped. How- Old equipment stored at the regional landfill that is man- ever, Uniteti cannot expand its services into aged by Uniteti. In other regions the landfills recycling, so the municipality has decided Low level of tax are managed by the public company respon- to hire a private company that will collect collection sible for management of landfills (KRDM) waste, classify and recycle. while in Vushtri it is actually managed by The landfill is managed by a the same company. Municipality officials Municipality officials stated that Prizren/ different organization saw this as an advantage to other munic- Prizren, which has implemented a four year ipalities. In the same landfill, Malisheva/ waste management project funded by the Low level of coverage Mališevo, and Skenderaj/Skendaraj throw Japanese Government, has been taken as their waste as well. The landfill was estab- a role model and they are trying to follow Lack of waste lished in 2001; it is open and has a drainage the same steps. Regional cooperation with management plan system. Vushtrri/Vučitrn has created a part- other municipalities on waste management nership with a municipality in Sweden which has been regarded as very necessary and Lack of financial resources to has helped them in establishing the plan for beneficial. implement the plan waste management. The officer noted that it is a great challenge to actually implement
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 19 OBILIQ/OBILIĆ
In Obiliq/Obilić, regional company Pastrimi is responsible for providing waste collec- tion services. Besides serving Obiliq/Obilić, Pastrimi serves six other municipalities: Prishtina/Priština, Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje, Drenas/Drenas, Lipjan/Lipljan, Podu- From 18 villages that Obiliq/ Low level of jevë/Podujevo, and Gračanica/Graçanicë. Obilić municipality has, six are awareness from Waste is collected twice a week in urban citizens areas and once a week in rural areas of Obi- covered by waste collection liq/Obilić. Waste is transported with trucks Old landfills that are property of the regional company. services and five are in process The trucks are not in perfect standing. Two of being offered the service. No landfill types of containers are used by citizens to throw waste, collective ones that are 10 cu- Low level of waste bic and smaller ones 1.1 cubic and family collection waste baskets. Villages are equipped with containers of 1.1 cubic that serve up to four No board member in the company families. Method of collection varies from In terms of population, the urban to rural areas. In the urban areas most Lack of a company of the waste is collected door to door. There officers mentioned that around responsible for are only two collections points in the urban waste mgmt 70 percent of the population area. In the rural areas waste is mainly col- Lack of recourses to lected at collection points. is served. Clients pay around classify waste From 18 villages that Obiliq/Obilić munic- 4.60 Euros per month for the Lack of resources to ipality has, six are covered by waste col- recycle waste service. Around 70 percent of the lection services and five are in process of being offered the service. The company Lack of transfer payment gets collected. stations cannot serve all the villages due to geo- graphical position and road infrastructure. There are some neighborhoods where there Obiliq/Obilić where around 16 people are Old equipment are only four to five houses that are spread employed. The municipality owns 3 percent far from one another. In terms of popula- of the shares of Pastrimi. It appoints a mem- Low level of tax tion, the officers mentioned that around 70 ber in the board of the company. The mem- collection percent of the population is served. Clients ber is selected though an open call. The call The landfill is pay around 4.60 Euros per month for the gets published, the municipal commission managed by a service. Around 70 percent of the payment composed of three members recommends a different organization gets collected. candidate and that candidate is voted by the Low level of municipal assembly. The municipality mon- coverage Pastrimi is a public regional company and itors the activities of the company through as such, MED based on the Law No. 03/L its board member. The municipality has in- Lack of waste -087 on Public Enterprises, through the Unit vested in 450 family waste baskets. No other management plan for Policy and Monitoring, is responsible for investment is being offered to the company overseeing and monitoring the operations by the municipality. Furthermore, the mu- Lack of financial resources to of public enterprises that are owned by nicipality has stopped its financial support implement the plan the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. to the company since they believe that the There is a regional office of the company in company has not been fair. The director of
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 20 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION public services believes that the company Two types of containers has invested more in the other municipali- ties. They believe that the company has done are used by citizens very little investment in Obiliq/Obilić. to throw waste, collective ones that are Since 2005, waste is disposed in Mirash Furthermore, the municipality landfill, which geographically is part of has stopped its financial support Obiliq/Obilić municipality and is used by six other municipalities that Pastrimi covers. to the company since they 10 cubic The location of the landfill was set through a decision made by the municipal assembly. believe that the company has The landfill is open and does not have any not been fair. The director of drainage system. There is a problem with the treatment of water. Part of the landfill public services believes that the and smaller ones floats on the water that has been created from the rain and underground waste. An- company has invested more in the other problem is straight dogs that wonder other municipalities. They believe 1.1 cubic around that area and crows. Until lately, there were eight illegal landfills but five that the company has done very were closed and three are in the process of being closed. These landfills were created little investment in Obiliq/Obilić. mainly from inert construction waste.
Villages are When deposited in the landfill, waste is not selected or classified. All that the company equipped with does is periodically cover the waste with The director for public services containers of layers of soil. No management or aftercare 1.1 cubic that of the landfill is done. The municipality does stated that it will take decades to not engage in any recycling activity since it is serve up to four very costly and they do not have the neces- overcome the damage caused to families. sary budget. The director for public services Obiliq/Obilić by all the chemical stated that it will take decades to overcome the damage caused to Obiliq/Obilić by all the waste being dumped in the 1.1 cubic chemical waste being dumped in the landfill. landfill. Regarding legislation, the plan for waste management is being prepared as part of a and treatment of waste. The director for project implemented by GIZ. After the plan public services mentioned that they are is approved, a master plan of activities will thinking of creating a municipal company be prepared as well. Up till now they have that would be responsible for waste man- not established any cooperation with any agement. In that way the municipality of municipality. The director believes that Obi- Obiliq/Obilić would be the only stakeholder. liq/Obilić is at great disadvantage since the Furthermore, the municipality officials are landfill is located in the municipality. negotiating with an investor from Germany who is interested in producing energy from The municipality is willing to engage in activ- the waste. ities that contribute to better management
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 21 GRAČANICA/GRAÇANICË
In Gračanica/Graçanicë, the regional compa- ny Pastrimi is responsible for waste collection. Waste is collected two times per week from containers and is transported with truck. One of the trucks used for waste transportation was received as a donation to the municipality According to municipality Low level of from USAID and it is in a very bad condition. Its officials, 203 tons of waste per awareness from condition is so bad that the driver and coordi- citizens nator in charge of that unit said that it would month is collected in Gračanica/ hardly be able to pass technical inspection for Old landfills next registration. The other truck used is prop- Graçanicë. erty of the company Pastrimi and it is in a little No landfill bit better condition. According to municipality officials, 203 tons of waste per month is col- Low level of waste lected in Gračanica/Graçanicë. Waste is col- collection lected in all of Gračanica/Graçanicë’s territory Waste is deposited at the public and 100 percent of the population is covered by No board member in the company the service. The cost of the service is almost regional landfill in Obiliq/Obilič. 5.00 Euros per household. Municipality officials Lack of a company did not know the exact percentage of the tax responsible for that gets collected but stated that a very small waste mgmt percentage of customers pay for the service. Lack of recourses to classify waste The municipality has appointed one employee In the municipality of Gračanica/ who is responsible for waste management Lack of resources to and monitoring the work of the Pastrimi unit Graçanicë, there are 21 illegal recycle waste in Gračanica/Graçanicë. The municipality has landfills. had a waste management plan for year 2011 Lack of transfer stations and 2012. As of mid-2015, the officials have needed for recycling of waste. Municipality of started to work on drafting a waste manage- Gračanica/Graçanicë, based on a memoran- ment plan with the help of donor organization. dum between the Mayor and executive direc- Old equipment Gračanica/Graçanicë does not have represen- tor of waste management company, pays the tatives on the board of the company and as company 9,828 Euros. The payment includes Low level of tax such the municipality official interviewed was salaries for staff (coordinator, collector, and collection not aware of the procedures required for the driver) fuel costs, waste disposal fee, servicing appointment of board members. and maintenance of vehicles and containers. The landfill is managed by a different organization Waste is deposited at the public regional land- Regarding cooperation, Gračanica/Graçanicë fill in Obiliq/Obilič. Municipality officials are not is very interested in building a transfer station Low level of aware if anything else happens to the waste that can be used by other municipalities as coverage after being deposited in the landfill as the land- well. The officials stated that they have dis- Lack of waste fill is outside of their territory. Currently, in the cussed with the Ministry of Environment re- management plan municipality of Gračanica/Graçanicë, there garding transfer stations and if the ministry are 21 illegal landfills. The officials stated that would more easily approve a transfer station Lack of financial they are trying to turn one of the landfills into for the two municipalities than for one, it would resources to implement the plan a transfer station. The municipality does not be a good possibility to cooperate. have the required funds and human resources
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 22 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION MITROVICA NORTH
In Mitrovica North, the company responsi- ble for waste collection is Public Communal Company “Standard”. This is a public company that was established and still operates within the system of Republic of Serbia. Three years ago, when the Administrative Office of Mitro- Public company that was Low level of vica North was established, officials proposed established and still operates awareness from that a private company be licensed in order to citizens get funds for waste management, however within the system of Republic nothing was undertaken. Old landfills of Serbia. Waste is collected every day and mainly in No landfill large containers. Only in one of the villages, planning to purchase two trucks for waste col- there are no containers and citizens collect lection. Buying the trucks will be first support their waste in plastic bags or cans, and then in terms of funding. Aside from the trucks, the Low level of waste collection “Standard” picks it up from a specified spot. municipality has had a couple of joint activities The trucks of the company are used to trans- for cleaning the Ibar River, where the company No board member in port waste. These trucks are in very bad con- Standard was engaged to collect the waste. the company dition, and only one out of three is in a better Lack of a company condition, other two are damaged to a great The municipality has drafted a Local Plan for responsible for extent. Waste collection service covers around Waste Management, but it has not been adopted waste mgmt 80 percent of citizens. One part of Suhodoll i yet. The reason for this is that municipal assem- Lack of recourses to Epërm/Suvi Do is covered by the service of the bly was recently established. This plan is essen- classify waste company from Mitrovica South. The price for tially being implemented except for the classifi- the service is around 3.00 Euros per house- cation part. It is not fully implemented due to lack Lack of resources to hold, but still about 99 percent of citizens do of capacities, lack of funds and infrastructure. An recycle waste not pay for this service. activity foreseen in the plan is to build a transfer station for classification of waste. Lack of transfer stations Officially the municipality does not have any mechanism to protect its interests. The par- Mitrovica North cooperates with municipality of allel municipality that operates under the Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok for depositing the waste Old equipment Government of Republic of Serbia is in charge in the landfill located in their territory. Previously, of monitoring the company and has a right to they have cooperated with Zvečan/Zveçan as Low level of tax appoint the supervisory board. The cooperation well because the previous landfill was on their collection with the new municipality is unofficial. territory. This landfill was on private land and Mitrovica North had to pay a fee so they switched The landfill is managed by a At the moment waste is being transported to to Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok landfill. They are also different organization Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok as the only operational willing to cooperate with Mitrovica South in order landfill is over there. Standard fee is payed for to use the licensed landfill in Koshutov. Low level of coverage depositing the waste in the landfill. The only se- lection process that is done is separate medical Lack of waste waste from other types of waste. The officer management plan interviewed did not have any information as to what happens to waste after it is deposited. Lack of financial resources to implement the plan The municipality does not cooperate with the company at the official level. However, they are
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 23 LEPOSAVIĆ/LEPOSAVIQ
In Leposavić/Leposaviq, the company responsible for waste collection is Public Communal Company “24 Novembar”. This company has been established by the par- allel municipality in Leposavić/Leposaviq. The parallel municipality that operates un- Around 65 percent of citizens are Low level of der the Government of Republic of Serbia offered with waste collection awareness from is in charge of the company and as such citizens it has the right to appoint the supervisory service, including the rural areas board. Old landfills as well. In the urban area of Leposavić/Leposaviq No landfill waste is collected every day while in the villages and around the city three times a week. In the rural areas, waste is collected Low level of waste collection once a week. During a day around 15 tons of The company responsible for waste is collected from containers. Around No board member in 65 percent of citizens are offered with waste waste collection is Public the company collection service, including the rural areas Lack of a company as well. Municipality officials stated that the Communal Company “24 responsible for price for the service depends on the surface Novembar”. This company has waste mgmt of the house/apartment. However, none of Lack of recourses to the customers pay for the service. been established by the parallel classify waste Until the end of 2012, waste was disposed municipality in Leposavić/ Lack of resources to in landfill in Balaban village, Zvečan/ Leposaviq. recycle waste Zveçan. However, once the landfill was closed, Leposavić/Leposaviq established Lack of transfer its own local landfill. The establishment of are open to cooperate with other munici- stations the landfill was not based on any regula- palities as well. Regarding regulations, the tion or standard, nor does it have a drain- municipality does not have a waste man- Old equipment age system, but they did not have any other agement plan. option. Waste dumped in the landfill is not selected or recycled. After deposited in the Low level of tax collection landfill, waste is compacted and covered with soil. This process is repeated contin- The landfill is uously. The company has tried to increase managed by a the awareness of citizens and foster waste different organization minimization. However, according to the Low level of officials, without having the proper human coverage resources and equipment increasing the awareness of citizens has little meaning. Lack of waste management plan Regarding cooperation, municipality offi- cials mentioned that one possibility would Lack of financial be the creation of a joint landfill that would resources to be used by Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zvečan/ implement the plan Zveçan and Mitrovica North. However, they
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 24 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION ZVEČAN/ZVEÇAN
In Zvečan/Zveçan, the company responsi- ble for waste collection is the Public Hous- ing and Communal Company “Zvečan/ Zveçan”. Parallel municipality that operates under the Government of Republic of Serbia is in charge of monitoring the company and The company responsible for Low level of has a right to appoint the supervisory board. waste collection is the Public awareness from The company is supported financially by the citizens budget that the parallel institution gets from Housing and Communal Company the government of Republic of Serbia. Old landfills “Zvečan/Zveçan”. Parallel Waste is collected every day in the Zvečan/ municipality that operates under Zveçan, and once a week in villages. Two No landfill trucks that are in good condition are used the Government of Republic of to transport waste. Around 70 to 80 per- Low level of waste cent of citizens are covered by the service. Serbia is in charge of monitoring collection The cost of the service is around 2.00 euros the company and has a right to No board member in per household and the payment collected is the company around 80 percent. Zvečan/Zveçan munic- appoint the supervisory board Lack of a company ipality does not have a legal landfill. At the responsible for moment the municipality is using temporary waste mgmt dump. This dump has some clay layers that Lack of recourses to serve as drainage. Municipality officials did classify waste not know the exact rate of tax collection. After being disposed in the dump, waste is Zvečan/Zveçan municipality does Lack of resources to covered with layers of soil. The municipality not have a legal landfill. At the recycle waste does not have a plan or strategy on waste management. moment the municipality is using Lack of transfer stations The municipality officials stated that they temporary dump. This dump has have applied for funding together with mu- some clay layers that serve as Old equipment nicipality of Mitrovica North, Zubin Potok/ Zubin Potok and Leposavić/Leposaviq for drainage. Low level of tax a joint regional waste management proj- collection ect. One of the activities of the project is construction of a landfill in the territory of The landfill is managed by a Zvečan/Zveçan. However, they would also different organization be interested to cooperate in building a transfer station. Regarding regulations, the Low level of coverage municipality does not have a waste man- agement plan. Lack of waste management plan
Lack of financial resources to implement the plan
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 25 ZUBIN POTOK/ZUBIN POTOK
In Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok, the compa- ny responsible for waste collection is the Public Municipal Company “Zubin Potok/ Zubin Potok” which was established by the parallel municipality. Since the company is owned by a parallel institution, municipality Around 15 cubic meters of Low level of of Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok does not have waste are collected per week. awareness from any mechanism to protect its interests. The citizens municipality that operates under the Gov- Around 70 to 80 percent of ernment of Republic of Serbia is in charge Old landfills of monitoring the company and has a right citizens are covered by the to appoint the supervisory board. service. The price of the No landfill Waste is collected once a week and the service is around 3.00 Euros per trucks used to transport waste are in solid Low level of waste collection condition. Around 15 cubic meters of waste household, however, a very small are collected per week. Around 70 to 80 per- number of citizens pay the fee. No board member in cent of citizens are covered by the service. the company The price of the service is around 3.00 Eu- Lack of a company ros per household, however, a very small responsible for number of citizens pay the fee. Municipality waste mgmt officials did not know the exact rate of tax Lack of recourses to collection. After being collected, waste is The company responsible for classify waste transported in the landfill in Vučka Reka, near Gazivode Lake. This landfill is specific waste collection is the Public Lack of resources to because there is no drainage system, but Municipal Company “Zubin recycle waste the surface is such that the water does not leak and as a result does not pollute the soil Potok/Zubin Potok” which was Lack of transfer and groundwater. Partial selection and re- stations cycling of plastic and paper is done at the established by the parallel landfill. Recycling is partial due to lack of municipality. Old equipment necessary equipment to complete the pro- cess. Waste that remains in the landfill gets covered every 15 days with layers of soil. Low level of tax collection Municipality officials stated that they are The landfill is willing to cooperate with other municipal- managed by a ities for waste management. They have different organization a landfill and they would be interested to Low level of build a transfer station jointly with anoth- coverage er municipality. Regarding regulations, the municipality does not have a waste man- Lack of waste management plan agement plan.
Lack of financial resources to implement the plan
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 26 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 2.2 Common Problems/ Bottlenecks nicipalities where the companies responsible for waste management have been established by parallel Serbian mu- From the analysis done in the previous section it can be nicipalities. These municipalities are responsible for waste clearly deducted that the sixteen municipalities face several collection and have the right to appoint board members. challenges with waste management. Furthermore, majority of the problems faced between municipalities are actually The seventh problem is low level of waste collection. Usual- very similar in nature. This is especially true for municipal- ly more waste is produced than collected and this happens ities where the same regional company provides the ser- due to limited capacities. The eighth problem is old equip- vice and for municipalities that deposit waste in the same ment used to transport waste. Many municipalities com- landfill. Common problems are also shared to a high extent plained that the trucks used are in very bad conditions. The by new municipalities that have been established as a re- ninth problem is lack of resources to classify waste. Waste sult of decentralization process. From in-depth interviews is deposited in landfills without being classified. The tenth and analysis, the team managed to identify 15 problems problem is lack of resources for recycling waste. Similar to shared by municipalities. For more information on which the eighth problem, waste is deposited in the landfill and municipalities share an actual problem please see Annex 1 covered by layers of soil. The eleventh problem faced by (Note: problems are not ranked in the order of importance). municipalities is lack of transfer stations where waste can be classified in order to be reused and recycled. The first problem faced by many municipalities is low level of awareness from citizens regarding waste disposal, re- The twelve problem faced is low level of tax collection. Tax ducing waste, reusing waste and recycling waste. Almost collection rate varies from 0 to 80 percent. Usually in the all municipality officials complained that citizens are not northern municipalities, citizens do not pay for waste col- careful where they throw their waste, especially the ones lection services. In other smaller municipalities, collection living in urban areas. Furthermore, citizens produce a high varies from 17 to 40 percent. In the bigger municipalities level of waste and are not aware that they can reduce the such as Gjilan/Gnjilane, Peja/Peć, Istog/Istok and Klinë/ amount of waste by reusing and recycling. The second prob- Klina, collection goes up to 70 percent. Thirteenth problem lem faced is old landfills that are in deteriorating conditions. faced is low level of coverage. In some municipalities only Most of these landfills lack drainage systems which are 20 percent of the territory is covered by waste collection causing underground water to be polluted. The third prob- services. The fourteenth problem faced by municipalities is lem, related to landfills is their management. Most of the lack of a waste management plan. The final problem iden- landfills are managed by the public company responsible for tified is the inability to implement the waste management managing regional landfills, except for the one in Vushtrri/ plan due to lack of financial resources. Vučitrn which is managed by the company responsible for waste management. This is seen as very problematic for municipalities and they stated that it would be better if municipalities or companies responsible for waste man- agement manage the specific landfills.
The fourth problem faced by some municipalities, especially the ones in the northern part of Kosovo, is lack of landfills. Three northern municipalities, Mitrovica North, Zvečan/ Zveçan and Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok do not have landfills. Leposavić/Leposaviq has a landfill, however is has been constructed without any standards. The fifth problem is lack of a company contracted for managing waste. This problem is faced by smaller municipalities such as Parteš/ Partesh, Klokot/Kllokot, and Ranilug/Ranillug, which have to provide the services themselves. The sixth problem is not being able to ensure interests are protected since smaller municipalities do not have board members in the regional waste management companies. Another problem related to board members is applicable to Serbian-majority mu-
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 27 3. BEST REGIONAL PRACTICES
In order to learn from best practices used in the region, the to be the most cost efficient solution for the project area, team conducted secondary research and chose to present compared to the establishment of smaller landfills in the the best examples of cooperation on waste management. In sub regions of the project area, near to the population cen- Croatia, joint collection and disposal of communal waste in ters. Waste treatment and recycling facilities have been one of the most often used form of cooperation among local included in the system design, as far as economical viable governments (Association of Municipalities in the Republic for the time being (OSCE, 2004). To minimize the distances of Croatia, 2010). Cooperation is mostly un-institutionalized to be travelled by collection vehicles between the collection and defined by the Law on Communal Economy and refers area and the disposal facilities, three (sub) regional transfer to the set-up of joint communal police and public-private stations are foreseen to receive, beside the landfill itself, the partnership contracts between a private company and sev- waste collected in the five mayor towns of the area (two of eral local governments, with a prior consent of the ministry them located at close distance to each other). Furthermore, responsible for the contract matter. The main form of co- 7 simple transfer points serve smaller towns with collection operation is via joint communal enterprise where the local services in place, simple small transfer stations are fore- governments are co-owners of the enterprise (Association seen, consisting of a 40 m3 roll-on/off-containers, placed of Municipalities in the Republic of Croatia, 2010). at a ramp, which allows the collection vehicles to tip the collected waste into the containers (OSCE, 2004). Municipal In Macedonia, due to lack of regional solid waste man- cooperation has been set up as an association of partners, agement and disposal system, wild dumping, insufficient where the municipalities and a private entrepreneur are resources of municipalities to provide individually the the partners. The private entrepreneur is foreseen to be services, no systems for collection of infectious/ medical the “operator” of the system which includes the transfer wastes as well as hazardous industrial waste in place, 35 stations and the landfill. The actual waste collection func- south-west municipalities have established an agreement tion will remain with the individual municipalities while the to build a joint waste facility (Local Development Group, long distance transport and the disposal of waste should be 2006). The project area extends to 7,299 km2 and covers performed by a new entity, to be formed for this purpose. the towns of Bitola, Kicevo, Ohrid, Prilep, Resen and Struga Municipalities will take the ownership of the disposal or- with an approximate number of 430,000 inhabitants (Local ganization. The municipalities will pay the association the Development Group, 2006). From the solid waste facility, fees for operation and the association will in turn pay the municipalities expect to minimize any hazards to the public operator (Local Development Group, 2006). health that can be caused by solid waste handling, improve the environmental conditions in the entire area, develop In Serbia, seven municipalities (Subotica, Bački Topol, Kan- tourism, protect the natural resources, and reduce the ad- jiža, Senta, Mali Idjoš, Čoka i Novi Kneževac) have invested verse effects of scattered waste. The objective of the pro- in the construction of a regional landfill in Subotica. In addi- posed project is consequentially to establish an area-wide tion to municipalities, the project was funded by European system for the appropriate collection and disposal of com- Union as well. Construction is supposed to end by 2017.The munal and non-hazardous industrial waste only (OSCE, planned location of the regional landfill Subotica leans on 2004). The core component of the proposed project is the a local road Subotica-Bikovo-Orom, seven kilometers from establishment of one state-of the art sanitary landfill for the Subotica in the southeastern direction. The nearest villag- entire project region. To allow all municipalities, regardless es regarding the envisaged regional landfill are Gabric and of their physical location in the project area and, hence, their Oromo, located two kilometers from the site. Area available distance to the new landfill, equal access to the new facility for the construction of a regional landfill is 46 hectares. The the one-landfill-concept has been complemented with a main objective of the project is construction of a regional logistic system operated by the landfill operator. The logistic municipal waste landfill, including all stationary equipment, system consists of transfer stations and smaller transfer which meets EU Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC, serving sev- points, containers, skip container trucks and truck-trail- en municipalities with a population of 280,025. The landfill’s er-assemblies, operating in the project area to take over total service area will cover 46 hectares and total capacity the waste from the collectors, at convenient distance from will be 2,906,000 tones up to year 2042. Another objective the waste collection area. This combination has turned out is to construct four transfer stations for optimization of
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 28 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION transport scheme at distance of 20-30 km. The transfer age area and improved financial performance (Institute for stations will be located at municipalities Subotica, Bačka Democracy and Mediation, 2013). The five local government Topola, Senta and Kanjiža. units share capital investment costs, operational costs and personnel costs. This has resulted in a significant reduction In Montenegro inter-municipal cooperation has been fos- of costs compared to if the service would have been provid- tered as well. One of many areas that Montenegro munic- ed by each unit with its own limited resources. The costs ipalities have cooperated is creation of regional landfills of the waste collection, transportation and deposit are 2.5 and recycling centers. Municipalities such as Andrijevica, times less if offered through inter-municipal cooperation Berane, Rožaje, Plav have constructed a regional landfill (Institute for Democracy and Mediation, 2013). and recycling center. Bijelo Polje, Mojkovac, and Kolašin have also constructed a regional landfill. Nikšić, Šavnik and Plužine have cooperated by constructing a regional landfill (UNDP Montenegro, 2010).
In Albania, a survey conducted in order to establish an in- ventory of inter-municipal cooperation identified between 24 and 37 agreements with varying degrees of formalization between different local government units (Institute for De- mocracy and Mediation, 2013). One form of inter-municipal cooperation is the Zadrima Inter-Communal Association for waste management. Zadrima has been established as a non-profit organization covering the territory of five local government units that are located in the northeastern part of Albania. The total population of the five local government units being served is 55,190 inhabitants. The main aim of the Inter-Communal Association of Zadrima is to encour- age social and economic development of Zadrima through coordinated interventions among the members. The As- sociation can perform tasks according to the Statute only if authorized by the majority of its members. The areas of competence vary across the economic and urban sectors, but the association is mainly tasked with the joint waste management system of the region. The staff is composed of the President of the Inter-Communal Association, who manages the operational activities, a person responsible for waste management who monitors the performance for this public service and three workers engaged in the collection of waste when the service is offered in the targeted areas. The Steering Committee composed by the Mayors of the five local government units is the decision-making body of the Association. The members pay a membership fee and an annual fee to the Association to cover the costs of the waste collection and management service (Institute for Democracy and Mediation, 2013).
The implementation of inter-municipal cooperation contrib- uted to reduction of expenses, increase of the service cover-
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 29 4. JOINT OPPORTUNITIES
Since the municipalities share many common problems 3 regarding waste management opportunities for establish- ing inter-municipal cooperation in order to engineer joint Another possibility for a joint transfer station is in the west- solutions are plenty. ern municipalities of Kosovo such as Istog/Istok, Klinë/Klina, Peja/Peć, Deçan/Dećan and Junik/Junik. Municipality of Is- tog/Istok is planning to build a transfer station and as such 1 neighboring municipalities can use it to classify waste. In Istog/Istok a private company has shown interest in recy- One form of cooperation can be based on geographic prox- cling and requested land and property form the municipality imity. Municipalities of northern part of Kosovo, Mitrovica that is close to where the transfer station is planned to be North, Leposavić/Leposaviq and Zvečan/Zveçan, can create built. Waste from the transfer station can be sent to the a joint landfill and use it for their purposes. If the capacity recycling facility or treatment centers. of the landfill that will be built is high, other municipalities can use it as well. The other municipalities can pay a fee for using the landfill. From the forum on Waste Management 4 organized on February 2016, it was concluded that the municipality of Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok is geographically Most of the Serbian majority municipalities are provided the far away from the other three northern municipalities and service by parallel institutions. In order to avoid this, the mu- can not use the same landfill. nicipalities can establish a regional public company that will be responsible for waste management. That company can also manage the regional landfill that will be used by Ser- 2 bian-majority municipalities. The transfer station in Štrpce/ Shtërpcë can also be used by other municipalities. These Another way that the northern municipalities can cooperate municipalities can invest together to create a modern facility. is building a joint transfer station where waste can be clas- sified and then sent to treatment centers. During the forum on Waste Management municipality officials stated that the 5 four northern municipalities can cooperate in establishing a joint recycling facility. The national strategy on waste Another way that municipalities can cooperate is to es- management 2013-2022 foresees the establishment of six tablish a joint raising awareness campaign. Most of the treatment centers. The transfer station can be established municipalities interviewed mentioned that they have prob- by other municipalities as well. Gjilan/Gnjilane, for example, lems with citizens throwing their waste carelessly. As such, is served by a public-private company that plans to engage municipalities can join forces to increase the awareness of in recycling. Nearby municipalities can cooperate to build a citizens to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste. joint transfer station. Waste classified in the transfer station can be sent to the recycling center in which the company will invest or in the treatment centers that the national strategy foresees.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 30 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 6 7 Municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane stated that due to lack of Another option for cooperation is between municipality of inspector, the municipality does not know exactly the dam- Gračanica/Graçanicë, Obiliq/Obilić, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, age being caused by careless dumping of waste and cannot Gjilan/Gnjilane, Parteš/Partesh, Ranilug/Ranillug, and stop the citizens from dumping carelessly. As such, the Klokot/Kllokot. Officials from Gračanica/Graçanicë men- municipality can establish an agreement with a neighboring tioned that there are 21 illegal dumps in their municipality municipality such as Novo Brdo/Novobërdë to share the and they are trying to close them down by building a trans- inspectorate services, while Gjilan/Gnjilane can share some fer station. Municipality of Gračanica/Graçanicë is waiting other service that they are good at. Such a practice has been for the idea to be approved by the Ministry of Environment. implemented in Macedonia where 3 municipalities (Novo The transfer station can be used by the other upper men- Selo, Vasilevo and Bosilovo) have agreed that in each mu- tioned municipalities as well. This would help decrease the nicipality locate joint departments that will provide services amount of waste disposed in the landfill; it will make solid for all citizens from the three municipalities, while ensuring waste collection more efficient and reduce overall trans- that citizens have access to those services in the near- portation costs, air emissions, truck traffic, and road wear est unit. Municipality of Novo Selo will be providing urban and tear. It will save money and lowers the cost of solid planning and management related services, municipality waste management services for all municipalities involved. of Vasilevo will be the center for taxation department and Transfer stations also give the option to municipalities to evidence, while the municipality of Bosilovo will specialize select among different disposal options and secure the low- in provisio;n of services related to law enforcement and est disposal fees. inspection (UNDP, 2008).
Most of the Serbian majority municipalities are provided the service by parallel institutions. In order to avoid this, the municipalities can establish a regional public company that will be responsible for waste management.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 31 4.1 JOINT OPPORTUNITIES DERIVED FROM THE FORUM ON WASTE MANAGEMENT
Forum on Waste Management in 16 Municipalities – Op- Ideas that were derived from the portunities for Inter-municipal Cooperation was organized by the end of February 2016. The main idea of the forum forum regarding inter-municipal was to present the report on waste management and to cooperation are the following: derive further opportunities for inter-municipal coopera- tion. On the forum, municipality officials who are responsi- ble for waste management in the 16 target municipalities were invited and were encouraged to provide ideas for inter-municipal cooperation that could be implemented successfully. Besides municipality officials, present in the The first idea for inter-municipal cooperation forum were also directors of regional waste management proposed was establishment of joint companies, civil society and an officer from the Kosovo composting facilities. Around 45 to 50 percent Environmental Protection Agency. It is important to note of waste produced by a household is organic. that the ideas for inter-municipal cooperation present- What household do is throw it away together ed in the report were evaluated as very good and easy with other types of waste which ends up in to implement. However, municipality officials added that the landfill, it decomposes there and releases with decentralization process, the central level passed on methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas. the responsibility of waste management to municipalities Composting will help households decrease without thinking about sustainability. The municipalities the amount of waste they throw. In return, were not ready to accept that type of responsibility as the amount of waste stored in the landfill will they did not and still do not have the financial and hu- decrease as well. Also, the amount of waste man resources to manage waste effectively on their own. transported will decrease. Composting also Furthermore, very little activities have been undertaken contributes positively to the protection of by the central level to strengthen the municipalities and the environment as it is a form of recycling. ensure sustainable provision of services by the local level. Therefore, municipalities in Kosovo can invest As such municipalities face many problems with waste jointly to create state of the art composting management and need to cooperate with one another to facilities. Organic waste that is composted in improve the situation. the facilities can be used as a fertilizer for the soil.
32 The second idea for inter-municipal cooperation The forth idea for inter-municipal cooperation proposed was investment by four northern proposed was municipalities joining forces municipalities, Mitrovica North, Leposavić/ to purchase equipment needed for collecting Leposaviq, Zvečan/Zveçan, and Zubin/Potok/ garbage and cleaning the streets. Almost all Zubin Potok, in a joint recycling facility. None of municipalities complained that the equipment the municipalities have the financial resources used are old and regional companies do not needed to invest on their own in a facility. As have the financial resources to purchase new such, they can invest jointly to construct a equipment. As such, municipalities can join recycling facility. forces to purchase new equipment that have lower emission rates. Furthermore, the new equipment will make transportation to the landfill more effective.
The third idea for inter-municipal cooperation proposed was to find a joint solution on increasing the percentage of tax collection. Almost all municipalities mentioned that The fifth idea for inter-municipal cooperation providing waste management services is costly proposed was decreasing the number of and not being able to collect the money from regional landfills from seven (7) to two (2). The citizens, affects negatively the service provided. main idea is to have two regional landfills that As such, municipalities can create joint policies are managed effectively and efficiently rather that would impact the tax collection. Or they than have seven that are in terrible conditions. can devise new economic models regarding Two new landfills that fulfill all the required the ownership of the waste management criteria can be established. These landfills companies. Instead of being fully public they should be maintained properly. The main goal can be private public partnerships. with the decrease in the number of landfills would be to decrease the amount of waste produced by citizens. REFERENCES
Association of Kosovo Municipalities. 2010. Inter-municipal Cooperation in Kosovo Challenges and Opportunities. IMC REPORT
Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Croatia. 2010. Inter-municipal cooperation in the republic of Croatia: Legislative, Institutional and Financial Framework for Inter-Municipal Cooperation and Examples of Good Practice.
Institute for Democracy and Mediation. 2013. Inter-municipal Cooperation as an alternative towards Efficient Public Service Delivery in Albania.
Local Development Group. 2006. Inter-municipal Cooperation in Planning and Service Delivery: Analysis and Recommendations
OSCE Spillover Mission to Skopje. 2004. A Report on the Status of Inter-Municipal Cooperation
Republika e Kosovës/Republic of Kosovo. 2008. Law Nr. 03/L-040 on local self-government. Retrieved from: http://www. assembly- kosova.org/common/docs/ligjet/2008_03-L040_en.pdf
Republika e Kosovës/Republic of Kosovo. 2008. Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Retrieved from: http://www. assembly-kosova.org/common/docs/Constitution1%20of%20the%20Republic%20of%20Kosovo.pdf
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Montenegro and Ministry of Interior and Public Administration of Montenegro. 2010. Strengthening Inter-Municipal Cooperation in Montenegro.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Macedonia and Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 2008. Inter-municipal partnerships for improved public service quality.
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 34 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION ANNEX 1 n Zvečan Zveça k Zubin Zubin Potok Poto Zubin Zubin Štrpce Shtërpcë Ranilug Ranillug Parteš Partesh Novo Brdo Novo Novobërdë North itrovica M Leposavić Leposaviq Klokot Kllokot Gračanica Graçanicë Vučitrn Vushtrri Peć Pejë Obilić Obiliq Klina Klinë stok Istog Istog
Gjilan Gnjilane Low level of of level Low from awareness citizens landfills Old No landfill of level Low collection waste member No board in the company a Lack of company for responsible mgmt waste recourses Lack of waste classify to resources Lack of waste recycle to transfer Lack of stations equipment Old tax of level Low collection The landfill is managed a different by organizati on of level Low coverage waste Lack of management plan financial Lack of to resources the implement plan
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 35 ANNEX 2
# Municipality Name & Surname Position
Fehmi Agushi Officer for Environmental Protection 1. Gjilan/Gnjilane Fadil Osmani Officer for Economic Development
2. Pejë/Peć Uke Selimaj Director for public services
3. Obiliq/Obilić Burim Gerguri Director for public services
4. Istog/Istok Bedri Hasani Director for public services
Director for urban planning and environmental Sami Istrefi 5. Vushtrri/Vučitrn protection Islam Latifi Official for public services
6. Klinë/Klina Xhoke LLeshi Director for public services
Director of Department of Urbanism, Planning, Cadastre Dejan Jovanović and Environmental Protection 7. Gračanica/Graçanicë Vladica Trajković Director of Department of Public Services, Agriculture, Forestry and Emergency Situations
8. Ranilug/Ranillug Ivan Janićijević Director for public services
Director of Department of Public Services, Protection 9. Štrpce/Shtërpcë Siniša Budurić and Rescue
10. Novo Brdo/Novobërdë Nebojša Arsić Director of Department of Public Services
11. Klokot/Kllokot Hasan Rashiti Deputy Mayor
12. Parteš/Partesh Živojin Cvetković Director of Department of Public Services and Security
Zubin Potok Director of public services in Municipality of Zubin 13. Dejan Radojković /Zubin Potok Potok/Zubin Potok
14. Leposavić/Leposaviq Goran Lazović Public Communal Company “24. novembar”
15. North Mitrovica Jelena Milenković Administrative Office in North Mitrovica
16. Zvečan/Zveçan Nadica Hristov Director of Department of Urbanism
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 36 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 37 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 38 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION 39 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN 16 MUNICIPALITIES 40 OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-MUNICIPAL COOPERATION