There is an increasing amount of waste in Podgorica – more than three thousand tons of municipal waste have been collected since the beginning of March alone. Of particular concern is the increasing amount of waste ending up outside the containers – 38 percent more than last year.
"When we talk about daily quantities, they are also growing, so around 168 tons of improperly disposed waste around containers were collected daily, which represents an increase of 46.6 tons compared to the same period last year," said Senada Mulešković from the "Čistoća" checkpoint.
The amount of waste is increasing due to the increased disposal of plant waste, according to Čistoća - pointing to the problem of irresponsible behavior of individuals.
"We have containers in the city area intended for free disposal of plant waste at recycling yards, at five locations in the city. So, citizens can dispose of a certain amount of plant waste completely free of charge. Individuals continue to ignore these spaces, disposing of waste wherever they can, most often next to containers, in public areas and the like," she said.
Environmental activists say that the biggest part of the problem is plant waste, warning that the system for its collection and processing is not yet sufficiently developed.
"The question is whether we can blame the citizens, citizens as such do not have a regulated system that they can enter. For example, you have the move of Masline, Zagorič, Zlatica, citizens are informed that in the next seven days there will be trucks that will collect green waste directly from the property, then that waste would be driven to a specific place by Zelenil or Čistoća or Deponija where it would be mulched, composted, later the compost that we use in our parks to enrich that land is produced there, we have a closed system, so that is the only sustainable solution," said environmental activist Aleksandar Dragićević.
On the other hand, Zelenilo says that the removal of waste from public areas is not their responsibility – but that of Čistoća. They say that citizens, in addition to being able to dispose of plant waste for free at five recycling yards in the city, can also request its removal as an additional service.
