ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - The Croatian waste management system has experienced changes in recent years, and over the last seven months the government has set the course it will follow, Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Ćorić said on Tuesday.
"Our goal is to create all the necessary preconditions as soon as possible for successful waste management. That means waste sorting at home, acquisition of receptacles, which will begin next month, as well as construction of infrastructure, sorting facilities and acquisition of vehicles, which we will do in the second quarter," Ćorić said at the start of his working visit to Krapina, northwest of Zagreb.
He said that all was being done to ensure that Croatia had the necessary waste management infrastructure in place before the end of this year.
Asked by the press what problems were being encountered in that regard, Ćorić said that he had been in office only six months and that during that time a number of activities had been launched for successful waste management.
"Today we have signed an agreement for the 42nd recycling yard. Yesterday a process was launched to finance information activities regarding waste management. In the next ten days or so all local government units can express an interest in acquiring waste receptacles," he added.
"It is up to me and my team at the Ministry to do all we can to make the waste management system in Croatia fully operational as soon as possible," the minister said. He added that he expected a certain number of landfills to be closed down by the end of the year and that waste management centres would be ready by 2023.
Ćorić began his visit by signing a grant agreement for the construction of a recycling yard in Zlatar Bistrica municipality, the seventh such yard in Krapina-Zagorje County.
The acceptable costs of construction are set at 2.014 million kuna, most of which are covered by the EU, a part is financed by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, while 5% of the sum is provided by the local government.
