The Crisis of Plastic Waste Processing in Serbia: Why is the Collection System Lagging Behind European Standards?

Although the technological level of the Serbian recycling industry matches that of the European Union, the waste collection system is severely lagging behind. The processing of plastic waste faces increasing obstacles: collection rates are drastically falling, civil and market actors are fighting for survival, and the country loses 20 million euros annually due to inadequate waste management. In our analysis, based on the N1 portal’s report and professional statements, we present the current state of the Serbian waste industry and potential ways out.

Technological Advancement vs. Collection Crisis

Serbia’s waste processing industry is in a paradoxical situation. Mihail Mateski, President of the Association of Packaging Waste Recyclers of Serbia and director of Green Tech, one of the country’s largest plastic recycling plants, highlighted the industry’s main contradiction. According to his statement, the recycling industry is technologically at a high level, with facilities and factories representing a serious, European Union standard. The root of the problem lies in the waste collection system, which is dramatically underperforming.

Currently, there are about fifteen factories operating in Serbia dealing with plastic waste recycling. However, out of these fifteen plants, only two specialize in processing PET bottles. It is precisely these plants that suffer most from the negative industry trends. The difficulties are caused by a combination of factors: falling market prices, increasingly strict European certification requirements, but above all, the extremely poor functioning of the domestic public utility sector.

The Hopeless Struggle of Civil Organizations

Collection difficulties severely affect not only large industrial players but also the civil sphere. Zoran Martinov, a representative of the “Cap for Handicap” organization, simply described the situation as “zero” level in the context of Serbian recycling. The organization is currently in a hopeless situation: up to the time of the statement, over the past nine months, they have not been able to sell a single kilogram of caps to processing centers.

According to Martinov, they currently have more than 15 tons of plastic caps for which there is no market demand. The severity of the problem is compounded by the fact that the caps must be manually sorted and cleaned before sale to filter out coins and other foreign objects mixed in. If these materials enter the recycling machines, they can cause serious damage. The organization’s survival is currently ensured solely by donations, as practical recycling has almost completely paralyzed at their level as well.

Plummeting Statistics: Commercial and Residential Waste

According to Mihail Mateski’s analysis, the plastic waste stream in Serbia can be divided into two main parts: municipal (residential) and commercial sources. While the collection of plastics from the commercial and industrial sectors is more stable and easier to manage, the municipal waste segment presents a disastrous picture.

The biggest challenge is residential plastic waste, particularly PET beverage bottles. This type accounts for about half of all packaging plastic waste generated in Serbia, amounting to approximately 100,000 tons annually. The indicators for this segment have been showing a negative trend for years.

The primary waste sorting system is practically non-existent in practice. Instead of an increase in collected volumes, there is a continuous decline. While in 2018 Serbia was able to collect about 35 percent of plastics placed on the market, today this rate has plummeted to around 20 percent. The situation of household waste is particularly alarming: the collection rate in this area is less than 5 percent, even though this should be the main pillar of the system. For comparison, in the European Union, this indicator approaches 50 percent.

Currently, waste sorting is not mandatory in Serbia. What is even more frustrating for the population is that the waste selectively collected by citizens in special containers most often ends up in the recycling yards of public utility companies without any meaningful utilization.

The Cost of Delayed Reforms: An Annual Loss of 20 Million Euros

Mateski emphasized that Serbia has had the legislative framework that should regulate this area for 16 years, but concrete progress has been minimal so far. The economic damages are massive: the country loses about 20 million euros annually simply because PET bottles end up in nature or landfills instead of recyclers.

The Mandatory Deposit Return System as the Only Way Out

According to the expert, the only way out is the introduction of a mandatory Deposit Return System (DRS) for plastic bottles. This is the only model capable of guaranteeing a collection rate of over 90 percent extremely quickly. Mateski cited as an example that among European Union countries, Romania and Hungary have already successfully introduced this system, while Bulgaria and Greece are currently in the preparation phase for introduction.

The deposit model allows almost all plastic bottles to reach recyclers instead of polluting the environment. However, it is important to highlight that this system does not replace comprehensive household waste sorting; it is merely a critically important supplement to it.

According to Mateski’s final conclusion, although domestic technology is modern and has serious capacities, the problem is systemic: “The cancer of our wound is the public utility sector, and the fact that we are very late with the introduction of the deposit system.”

References:

• Original Article: N1 Info – Why Serbia is lagging behind in plastic waste processing

• Supplementary State Source (Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia – Waste Management section): Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine – Upravljanje otpadom