New sanitary landfill in Pančevo, the eighth regional sanitary landfill in Serbia, was officially opened on 28 October 2015. Mr. Saša Pavlov, Mayor of the City of Pančevo, His Excellency Mr. Christer Asp, Swedish Ambassador, Ms. Stana Božović, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection and Ms. Milica Jovanović, Director of the PUC „Higijena“ Pančevo were present at the opening event and addressed the participants.
The project “New regional landfill in Pančevo” was supported by the Swedish donation in the amount of €439.500, while the City of Pančevo provided 15 million dinars. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, international organization International Management Group (IMG) and the Municipality of Opovo. This partnership has not only supported the completion of the landfill works and purchase of a compactor but equally important supported the strengthening of the public utility company which manages the landfill operations and assisted in requiring the needed permits for starting the operations. The landfill with total surface area of 34 ha, should also serve Opovo municipality and possibly other municipalities in the vicinity.
So far, the City of Pančevo allocated about €3.5 million from its own funds in construction of the landfill. The new landfill is extremely important for environmental protection and establishment of the waste management system in the region and the Republic of Serbia.
The relevant Ministry actively participated in finding investors who made significant financial contributions in order to bring the sanitary landfill in Pančevo to the operative level with all characteristics of a regional landfill. This represents a step closer to fulfilment of the national waste management strategy goals and standards for EU accession.
