The Minister of Environment and Water Julian Popov met with the Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BCC) Dobri Mitrev, experts from the BCC and industry organizations - members of the chamber. Deputy Ministers Nikolay Sidzhimov and Petar Dimitrov from the Ministry of Environment and Water participated in the meeting.

The main topic of discussion was waste management and the transition to a circular economy. Minister Popov informed that the Ministry of Environment and Water has taken an active position regarding waste management legislation at the EU level based on the “polluter pays” principle, which affects the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy.

The members of the BCC indicated that it is important for the Bulgarian business to have an effectiveness analysis and a well-functioning legislation related to the extended liability of producers; to determine the criteria for fulfillment of obligations by those placing single-use plastic products on the market and the introduction of the deposit system with the participation of the business.

The participants in the discussion were united around the understanding that active actions are needed in the transition to calculating the municipal waste fee based on the amount generated. According to the business, this would be a powerful incentive for separate collection and an accelerator for the implementation of the deposit system. For this purpose, the cooperation and active involvement of the municipalities and defining criteria for separate waste collection at the municipal level are necessary.

Issues related to the National Waste Information System and the creation of workable criteria for green public procurement for the use of large amounts of industrial waste were also discussed. The minister pointed out that the Ministry of Environment and Water has already taken the initiative to allow green public procurement to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy and Industry.

The Executive Agency for the Environment informed that, despite the difficulties in implementing the National Waste Information System, there are video tutorials, online available answers to questions, as well as specialists who assist businesses by phone in fulfilling their obligation to submit information to the system . The agency is constantly working on the improvement of the system, and the procedure for upgrading it is currently underway.

Minister Popov assured the participants that the MOEW is working on each of the problems important to them, but also relies on additional expertise and is always open to dialogue. The Ministry is looking for workable solutions to processes that have been delayed for years and considers waste as a resource for which a demand and a market must be created.

He also paid special attention to the upcoming event COP28 – the UN conference on climate change, which will be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023 in Dubai, where Bulgaria will have its own pavilion. Minister Popov invited the business and the non-governmental sector to present their activities to him.