Environmental justice begins the moment the first disturbance of the natural balance occurs.
This should be the basic postulate when considering how to manage pollutants, such as waste disposal. With the past social arrangement, 34 communal landfills were created, and in 1996, another 20 new communal landfills were created in the country. From that period onwards, 320 locations were destroyed with illegal or so-called “wild dumps”, and the citizens are still not satisfied with how the garbage is collected and with how the competent institutions deal with solving this problem. Such environmental hazards arise from numerous reasons such as the lack of suitable locations for waste disposal, but also the low awareness of citizens to prevent situations in which they can endanger the living environment.
The Pologsk region records a bad situation due to the weak and disorganized infrastructure of the local authorities, the insufficient capacities of the public utility company, but also due to the lack of appropriate waste collection facilities and infrastructure. The story of the establishment of the first regional waste management system in the Pologsk region has passed all the instances that were available to the citizens and competent institutions in order to undertake the necessary activities with control and management of waste disposal in Rusino.
The Rusino Landfill was formed on the site of a former brick factory, at a location above Banjičko Pole where the Sušicka River passes before it flows into the Vardar. According to the authorities at the time, the place was chosen as the most suitable because of the composition of the land, that is, the nature of the slope, which is impermeable and therefore does not allow the absorption of polluted substances. At the landfill, waste from nine municipalities of the Pologsk region is deposited in the amount of approximately 120,000-140,000 tons per year [1] , which is often burned without proper supervision of the operation of the landfill. Numerous studies, including the Swiss Embassy, present scenarios in which it is emphasized that with additional construction and landscaping (clay buffering with special substances, storm water treatment systems, canals and pumps) , the location can be transformed into an ecological environment with standards for a modern regional landfill. For this purpose, the competent authorities, through international support [2] , provided funds for the preparation of a Regional Waste Management Plan and a Strategic Assessment of the Impact on the Environment, and to build a central facility for waste management at the site of the existing non-standard landfill – a regional landfill for municipal waste in Rusino. The competent authorities have prepared a draft plan for regional waste management in which the method of the municipal management of solid waste in the Pologi region, and the time frame in which the measures should be implemented is also foreseen.
The uncontrolled carrying of waste from the nine municipalities, without establishing standards for the sanitation of the waste and the landfill, encouraged the citizens and the authorities to take initiatives and activities for the protection of the environment. According to the citizens, the danger was constant due to the unpleasant smells, frequent fires and the smoke from the Rusino landfill that, due to the natural movement of the air, spread in the surroundings and the city, so the pollution affected the inhabitants, the environment and the waters belonging to the Vardar catchment area.
One of the examples is the farmer Rejait Memedi, who has had a farm in Gorna Banjica for more than a decade and points out that the uncontrolled dumping of waste has damages on the environment, people and animals. He himself had a loss that he had no way of compensating for, and it was about a significant part of his cattle that died due to pollution from a stream that flowed water that passed near the landfill. Citizens testify that in the past, various agricultural crops were grown on that soil due to the fertility of the land and the unpolluted waters, which if cultivated in the current conditions can be harmful to human health. In addition to the remediation of the Rusino landfill, they also appeal to investigate the degree of contamination of the groundwater and soil in the surrounding area.
Due to the uncontrolled dumping of waste, a group of citizens formed the initiative “Stop Rusino” and launched an activist movement that was expressed in blocking the entrance to the landfill for all but the trucks of public utility companies that dispose of garbage from households. Citizens’ initiatives demanded from the authorities to rehabilitate the landfill and establish a new one at a location according to planned standards. The activist nature of the movement was noted in the media due to the blockades at the entrance to the landfill and the exclusion of only the utility companies, which as an action lasted more than three months. Regarding the need to control the use of the landfill, the initiative informed the citizens daily with pictures and videos about the state of the landfill and warned the citizens when there is increased pollution. As a civil initiative, it is noted as successful because it encouraged the competent institutions to react to these activities, mutual meetings and official meetings were held and the competent institutions began to act.
Cooperation of central and local authorities
The lack of established work standards and the absence of mechanisms for waste management caused the institutions to transfer the responsibility for finding solutions for the Rusino landfill. On the one hand, the Municipality of Gostivar, through the Public Utility Company from Gostivar, is obliged to maintain the site with minimal technical conditions for environmental protection, preventing the entry of informal persons, fire protection, etc. The answers from the municipality were that they were stripped of their competence due to the adoption of a Decision to establish a regional waste management system, that is, a regional landfill and associated infrastructure that has not yet been established at the Rusino location.
As a sign of cooperation between local authorities, at the beginning of 2018, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the mayors of nine municipalities in Polog, according to which the Rusino Landfill will be arranged with appropriate procedures and standards in order to grow into a Regional Landfill that does not have consequences for people’s health and does not pollute the environment. Taking into account the previous commitments and the active involvement of citizens and institutions, as well as the invested capital for the rehabilitation of the landfill and its development into an engineering-designed communal landfill, there is a potential for “Rusino” to represent a transitional solution that will lead us to the stage in the Pologsk region to establish landfill that will meet all standards and recommendations for environmental protection of the European Union.
The establishment of the Regional Center for Waste Management in the Pologsk region is planned to be implemented in several phases, with the first one to be completed in 2020 with the construction of embankments and ditches to address the most serious environmental impacts of the Rusino landfill. The second phase of the construction was supposed to start this year (in 2021) until 2026 and provides for the purchase of containers for waste selection and recycling. What was significant about this initiative of the authorities is that they used the legal regulations to launch a joint initiative through the establishment of a regional public company that will work according to standards and manage the landfill in the Polog region.
The mayors of the nine municipalities in the Pologsk Region signed an Agreement for the establishment of an enterprise that will manage waste in the region. With the agreement, it was determined that the municipalities will dispose of the waste in Rusino in the next five years, but with the obligation to supervise the trucks that will dispose of the waste. With the agreement, the issue of dislocating the new regional landfill for the Pologsk region that will meet environmental conditions and standards was raised (locations in the municipality of Bogovinje were considered).
Current situation at the site of the Rusino landfill
Administrative procedures have delayed the establishment of the joint public enterprise of the nine municipalities for the collection and disposal of communal garbage. During 2020, as a reaction to the uncontrolled fires in the Rusino landfill, an alarm was raised through social networks, and the measuring stations registered exceeding the permissible values of air pollution.
In response to the needs to remediate the environmental consequences of Rusino, in December 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning issued an order for emergency measures to remediate the waste disposed of in Rusino. Through funds provided by a project for the establishment of a regional waste management system, the planned measures include the construction of a sewage treatment system, an administrative house for employees, a scale for weighing vehicles, the purchase of containers and the production of advertising spots for raising public awareness among citizens.
The remediation of the Rusino landfill is planned to start from March 2021, and the supervision of the intervention measures to control the disposal of waste will be carried out by the State Environmental Inspectorate. In the remediation of the Rusino landfill, in addition to DIŽS, the Center for the Development of the Pologi Planning Region, the Municipality of Gostivar, the Public Utility Company Gostivar and the Regional Enterprise for Waste Management, which was formed by all the municipalities in the Pologi region, are participating.
A representative of the civil initiative “Stop Rusino”, Anastasia Dukovska says that the initiative is on hold due to the agreement reached and it remains for the competent institutions to recognize the urgency of taking the necessary measures to rehabilitate the Rusino landfill. The citizens’ initiative has established communication with the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and points out that the initial remediation measures will begin in March 2021, while the Ministry of Education and Culture is seeking funds for the next stages. Although the citizens’ initiative is still of the opinion that the Rusino landfill must be relocated, they expect the next steps and results from the activities of the competent institutions.
Finding an appropriate solution for municipal waste disposal has been going on for decades and perhaps we should start looking beyond our borders. The current benefits of waste sorting are minimal for the individual and our society, and the economic issues of waste management are still unknown. For comparison, in European countries, such as Austria, recycling systems for selected waste (plastic, glass, metal, paper, organic waste) have been established, and new ecological methods such as accelerators are constantly being considered. Such alternative ways that turn waste into a benefit generate income and significantly reduce environmental pollution.
Slovenia records the best and most successful practice in change when it comes to waste management. Last year, Ljubljana became the first capital city with zero waste. There are several forms of sorting and recycling. 15 years ago they were in the same situation as we are now in the Pologi region, when all the waste was left at the landfill, but now that has completely changed. In 2002, a separate collection of paper, glass and packaging was started, and four years later, the city began to collect biodegradable waste – door to door. In 2013, every household received bins for packaging and paper. Practices we can aspire to can be found in Scandinavian countries, such as the example of Sweden which faces the paradoxical challenge of having to import waste from other countries to continue its waste recycling program which is a primary source of production. of energy and heat for households.
The development of the most modern biological waste treatment plant in Europe was the biggest step in achieving the goal – to recycle at least 75 percent of waste by 2025. The regional waste management center was opened in 2015. Gas is used there to produce its own heat and electricity. The center processes 95 percent of waste into recyclable materials and solid fuel and sends less than five percent of waste to landfill. It turns waste into high-quality fertilizer for gardens. According to information obtained from their online platforms, this center processes 170 thousand tons of waste annually, of which 150 thousand tons are mixed municipal waste and over 20 thousand tons of separately collected bio-waste. It serves 700 thousand inhabitants, or 43 municipalities in Slovenia, which represents one third of the country.
The Zwentendorf thermal waste recycling plant in Austria has been in full operation since 2004 and today has a total capacity of 500,000 tons per year. This makes it the largest such facility in Austria and one of the largest and most modern waste collection, management and recycling facilities in Europe. The factory recycles thermal waste, industrial and household waste, and the energy it produces saves about 100,000 tons of coal and 1 million cubic meters of natural gas per year.
The changes are urgently needed, first of all, because of the health of every citizen, and their practicality should be considered in terms of implementation and standardization. And not only in Pologsk, but also in other regions. Waste is everywhere. In the world, they see it as a source of finance, but in our country it is a very rough image, danger of infections, pollution, disease for everyone. And for nature, a living wound, which is difficult to cure. In addition to the need for a dynamic plan, a coordinated action of the local and central authorities is needed to map the needs for environmental protection, bearing in mind that with regular reporting of the results of the surveillance, the exchange of information and sustainable cooperation with the citizens will be achieved .
Author:
Suzana Trajkovska