The Adoption of New Laws to Result in Efficient Waste Management System

We expect that next week Serbia will have a set of environmental laws which shall regulate all issues related to environmental protection, said Mr. Oliver Dulić, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, at the opening of conference on "Mass Use of Recycling in Serbia" held today.

Besides creating new workplaces, the adoption of new laws and by-laws, according to his words, shall help create new environmental policies, improve citizens' awareness of the importance of these issues and develop green economy.

- In the past year, the Ministry has focused on the following two priorities, the legislative activity, that is, the adoption of new laws and raising public awareness of the importance of environmental issues through "Let's clean up Serbia" campaign. This campaign does not only include the building of municipal infrastructure and a wide cleanup of Serbia, but also makes room for the development of the recycling industry - said Minister Dulić.

He drew attention to the significance of the adoption of the Law on Waste Management and the Law on Package and Packaging Waste which shall enable the establishment of companies that need those laws for dealing with recycling, and it shall also enable the development of the recycling industry. Minister Dulić invited all stakeholders to participate, through the Chamber of Commerce and trade associations, in creating new environmental policy in Serbia.

- We regularly communicate with industry representatives so we could help them attain their goals, open new workplaces and employ people, pay taxes and invest in our country. However, we openly tell them that we will strictly control whether they respect the norms and rules of the game which are valid in countries which they come from, as well as Serbian regulations - said Minister Dulić.

As one of the key laws which shall soon be presented to the Members of Parliament in the Serbian Assembly, Minister Dulić has also announced the Law on Environmental Protection Fund. That law shall, according to his words, enable the Fund to help many industrial branches switch to new, cleaner production processes.

- 180 by-laws shall be the result of this set of environmental laws. Crucial by-laws pertain to the management of packaging and packaging waste. It is being considered which waste management model Serbia should choose. As part of the ongoing campaign "Let's clean up Serbia", we are touring the whole country. We have noticed that plastic bags and packaging waste are the most frequent polluters. In order to solve that issue, we will introduce the waste management system while respecting the state of our municipal infrastructure, the financial power of companies which produce packaging and packaging waste, governed by the "polluter-pays" principle. This system will ensure that the burden of handling packaging and packaging waste neither falls on the citizens, nor the industry. We are ready to cooperate with companies which promote the recycling industry in order to achieve an integrated approach. We expect that the industrial sector will cooperate on solving the issue of historical pollution through "Let's clean up Serbia" campaign - said Minister Dulić.

He said that the government shall, through a licensing system, strict control and conditions that companies need to fulfill for dealing with recycling in Serbia, as well as through the principle of regional presence, try to draw up a map of recycling industry, while giving everyone a chance to share in its development.

- It is our aim that those who are most serious and experienced, who have capacity and adequate locations for performing those activities enter the recycling industry - concluded Minister Dulić.