The Zero Waste Europe network has published new best sustainable waste management practices in Europe, which include those in the northern Croatian town of Prelog and 11 neighbouring municipalities, the Green Action NGO said on Friday.

“Croatian towns and municipalities that are part of the European network have continued advancing their waste management systems, achieving new successes. In terms of their results, they are a decade ahead of the goals set in July by the new law put forward by the unambitious Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry,” said Marko Kosak of the Green Action.

Prelog, the first Croatian town to adopt a zero waste strategy, and 11 neighbouring municipalities (Belica, Donja Dubrava, Donji Vidovec, Sveta Marija, Gorican, Donji Kraljevec, Kotoriba, Dekanovec, Domasinec, Martijanec, Podturen), have improved their result, with a cumulative result of 57.25% of all waste being sorted in 2019 to 65.23% in 2020.

The public sanitation company PRE-KOM in in charge of waste management in Prelog and the neighbouring communities.

The Green Action says the significance of this success is best evidenced by the fact that the EU had set the target rate of waste sorting for Croatia at 50% in the period until 2035.

“All 12 local government units, which are part of PRE-KOM’s waste management system, have met the target of 50% waste sorting which was set for Croatia in the period until 2020, and some of them were much more successful. For example, Prelog, with 70%, and Belica municipality, with an impressive waste sorting rate of 80%, show that one can achieve a goal if there is a will,” said Kosak.

Most towns in Croatia not even close to 20%

At the same time, most towns in Croatia are not even close to a waste sorting rate of 20% while some are still at 0%, with the ministry’s blessing, Kosak said.

The Green Action says that excellent news is coming from Krk island, where seven local government units have an average waste sorting rate of 53%. Croatia was to have met the waste sorting average of 50% by 2020, he said, noting that communities on Krk island want to achieve a better result, notably in terms of waste generation and increasing recycling and reuse.

The NGO said it looked forward to cooperation with Zagreb and its Cistoca public sanitation company on waste collection and waste disposal charges, on which a decision would soon be put to public consultation.

The decision is expected to help fix the chaotic system of waste management and unjust waste disposal charges in the capital, which has been burdening its residents due to the former city administration’s having ignored the problem for a long time, he said.

At meetings of the city’s task force, the Green Action has given recommendations on individualising waste disposal charges to make them depend on the quantity of exclusively unsorted waste generated, which will motivate citizens to sort and reduce waste.