Seven units of local government on the northern island of Krk on Monday gained candidate status for a "zero waste" town or municipality, which is the first step towards full certification of best practice in the European Union, Green Action NGO said.

Green Action and the Ponikve Eko Otok Krk utility company said at a press conference that the town of Krk and the municipalities of Omisalj, Vrbnik, Baska, Dobrinj, Punat and Malinska-Dubasnica had accepted “the decision on the implementation of the zero waste strategy to maximise waste reduction and increase reuse, recycling and composting”.

As it was pointed out, the island of Krk has for years been the leader in Croatia in separate waste collection and sustainable disposal despite the great challenges of the tourist season. The logical next step is to join the international zero waste strategy, which promotes the achievement of high goals by implementing many effective measures in line with the public interest, environmental protection and priorities in the waste management hierarchy, Green Action said.

The decision on the implementation sets ambitious five-years targets of 70% of separately collected waste and a reduction in the amount of other waste from 235 to 150 kilograms per capita. Also, the Ponikve utility company will ensure that different models of reducing waste generation are implementeted on the island, the press release said.

Green Action prepared an analysis for the local government units on Krk island with recommendations for further development of the sustainable waste management system.