"The Environment Programme (EP) 2021-2027, through its Waste Axis, funds the introduction of separate waste collection models as a priority. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Nikolay Sidzhimov during the conference "Green Transformation: Circular Economy and Sustainable Development - People, Materials, and Business Models", held yesterday in Sofia. No funds will be directed to new landfills and mixed waste separation plants.

Deputy Minister Nikolay Sidzhimov presented the objectives of the strategy for circular economy and resource efficiency, prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Water. "For this model to work, the business needs to accept it and we need to create the conditions for its implementation. With an effective information campaign aimed at citizens, many opportunities are created for municipalities to improve separate waste collection, to build centers for reuse and recycling. We encourage the creation of more points for separate waste collection, as the biodegradable fraction is separated and goes to composting plants", explained Nikolay Sidzhimov at the forum organized by Bulgarian Industrial Association and the “Enterprise” magazine.

According to the deputy minister, the introduction of a quantity-based municipal waste fee is a precondition for increasing the amount of separately collected waste. The National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) will implement a project with funds from the Program Environment 2021-2027, whereby models will be developed for different municipalities so that each can choose the most appropriate one. "The fears of some mayors that the fee for citizens will increase a lot will not materialize. It is a question of proper allocation of costs for the services which the fee pays,” said Deputy Minister Sidzhimov.

Svetlana Bozhkova, Director of the Waste Management Directorate at the Ministry of Environment and Water, noted that Bulgaria has a strong capacity for material recovery and recycling and explained the procedure for defining substances or objects as by-products.