The Ministry of Environment and Water is inspecting the progress with the implementation of the technical reclamation projects for the remaining 8 old municipal waste landfills. They are in the municipalities of Byala (Varnensko), Pernik, Velingrad, Dupnitsa, Pirdop, Boboshevo, Kocherinovo, and Kardzhali.

 At the beginning of August, the Minister of Environment and Water Rositsa Karamfilova, met with the mayors because of the delayed reclamation of the old municipal landfills. The MOEW demanded from the municipalities a schedule of activities and has started weekly inspections.

 After on-site inspections by MOEW employees at the landfills in Pernik, Dupnitsa and Boboshevo, it was established that there was significant mobilization and progress in the implementation of construction activities at all three landfills.

 For the landfill in Pernik, regardless of the unfavorable weather conditions in recent days and the heavy rains, there is progress, which reflects the schedule presented to the Ministry. At the landfill in Boboshevo, the construction company responsible has provided the necessary equipment, the terrain is flat, which allows to work at a good pace. Equipment and workers are provided at the depot in Dupnitsa, and the activities are carried out with good organization and on schedule.

 An inspection of the landfill in Velingrad found that finalizing works are being carried out, and the commitment made by the municipal management is to complete the technical reclamation activities by the middle of September.

 At the landfill in Byala (Varna region), field work has been completed and a Form 15 Certificate has already been issued for the completed technical reclamation.

 The inspection of the municipal depot in Kardzhali found progress in the planned construction and assembly works, which are being carried out according to the commitment made by the municipality. For the landfill in the municipality of Kocherinovo, there is a construction permit from the end of August, and a date has been determined for the start of the activities within the next week. A delay was reported for the start of the activities to implement the reclamation of the landfill in the municipality of Pirdop.

 With the regular weekly inspections, daily communication and the created organization, the MOEW aims to speed up the process of completing the reclamation of the old municipal waste landfills. With the efforts by the local authority, the activities should be completed as soon as possible without compromising the quality of the construction works.

 A year ago, the European Commission warned that our country is about to be brought before the Court of the EU for the payment of significant penalties due to the still non-reclaimed 43 landfills for non-hazardous waste out of a total of 113 included in the infringement procedure*. After the completion of the technical reclamation of the landfill in Byala, there are at present only 7 such landfills left, for which Bulgaria must employ maximum efforts to reclaim them, so that the amount of penalties be reduced.

 The reclamation of the 7 landfills is financed by the Operational Program Environment (OPE) 2014-2020, and the landfill in Kardzhali - by the municipal budget.

 *Immediate actions on the projects are required in connection with a decision by the Court of the EU from July 16, 2015, whereby Bulgaria was found in failure to fulfill its commitments regarding the closure and reclamation of old municipal landfills. The country was found in lack of compliance in respect to 113 municipal waste landfills because they were not closed by July 2009. According to the commitments made by Bulgaria to the European Commission, after the first decision by the Court, all 113 landfills ceased operation as of 2017, but were supposed to be reclaimed by December 31, 2020.