The Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov launched a site for the pre-treatment of non-hazardous mixed municipal waste and composting of separately collected bio-waste, located in the village of Ravadinovo, Sozopol Municipality, near the Regional Non-Hazardous Waste Landfill of the municipalities of Sozopol, Primorsko, and Tsarevo.

The project is of strategic importance for the region, with an investment of 12 million leva. Two installations for the treatment of municipal waste have been built on an area of ​​17 acres. The technological process combines machine and manual processing with the possibility of separating recyclable materials, such as mixed paper, corrugated cardboard, various types of plastics, glass, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, which significantly reduces the amount of waste destined for landfill.

“There is no other facility like this in the Republic of Bulgaria yet. This is a unique example of cooperation between local authorities and business. Everything here has been built by the municipality and its partners,” said Minister Manol Genov during the opening. He expressed his conviction that this is the path that has long been mapped out for waste management in Bulgaria.

The facility was built and will be operated by Antea Sorting Ltd. – a partnership between the Municipality of Sozopol, Sort Commerce Ltd. and Komunalna Tekhnika Ltd. Depending on the season, a team of about 60 employees is required for the operation of the site during the summer and 30 employees during the winter.

A biowaste composting installation (plant waste) will also operate on the site, equipped with bunkers, an aeration system, and controlled leachate removal, which guarantees an environmentally friendly process.

“It meets the goals set by the European Commission, as well as the national goals set for the development of the circular economy,” emphasized Minister Genov. “We see that the majority of waste will be processed, and there will be secondary products that will be used again. We also see that there will be great progress in terms of the collection of biodegradable and green waste,” added the Minister. “The less waste we deposit in the soil, the better we protect all components of the environment,” said Minister Genov.

According to him, the implemented project near Sozopol is a good example for other municipalities in the country that are facing similar challenges. He assured that the state is providing the necessary support through the Environment Program, under which a total of over 312 million euros have been allocated for the construction of infrastructure and for the maintenance of composting systems. The focus is on the reuse, separate collection, and recycling of waste.

"There are open measures for separate collection, as well as measures related to the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, which unfortunately, for a number of reasons - lack of budget and lack of readiness on the part of all Bulgarian municipalities - has not been implemented so far," said Manol Genov, emphasizing that this process continues and Bulgaria must indeed achieve the set goals.

The Minister specified to journalists that only for the construction and expansion of municipal and regional systems for separate collection and recycling of biodegradable waste under the Environment Program, 172.52 million euros have been allocated, which will be provided as a grant to municipalities, nearly 45 million euros have been allocated for the reclamation and improvement of the safety of existing landfills, and 43.97 million euros are directed to measures to optimize the management of household waste for the introduction of the "you pay for what you dispose of" principle.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Sozopol Municipality Tihomir Yanakiev, the Regional Governor of Burgas Region Vladimir Krumov, the Mayor of Tsarevo Municipality Marin Kirov, the Mayor of Primorsko Municipality Ivan Gaykov, the Chairman of the Municipal Council - Sozopol Stanimir Andonov, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Atanas Kostadinov and the Manager of Sort Commerce EOOD Vidyo Videv.