site.btaBulgaria, Switzerland Launch Project for Pilot Temporary Storage of Hazardous Waste in Five Municipalities

Bulgaria, Switzerland Launch Project for Pilot Temporary Storage of Hazardous Waste in Five Municipalities

Sofia, November 28 (BTA) - Outgoing Environment and Water Minister Ivelina Vassileva and the Ambassador of Switzerland to Bulgaria, Denis Knobel, officially launched a project for environment-friendly collection and temporary storage of hazardous household waste on Monday. The project is financed under the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme.

The Executive Director of the Enterprise for Management of Environment Protection Activities, Reneta Koleva, said that pilot centres for temporary hazardous household waste storage will be developed in the municipalities of Sozopol, Shoumen, Suedinenie, Levski and Razgrad. Hazardous household waste from 22 municipalities will be stored there. The project will cover over 360,000 residents. It is worth 8.8 million Swiss francs with 85 per cent of the funding coming from Switzerland and 15 per cent national co-funding.

Switzerland will support two very important environment-related projects which have not found a solution for many years, Vassileva said: that related to the landfills for temporary storage of hazardous household waste and another one, focused on pesticide treatment, which is worth 32 million Swiss francs.

Twelve mobile stations will be supplied under the project for hazardous waste disposal, which will make it easier for both the citizens and the municipalities, Vassileva said. They will be used to store old medicines, lacquer, paints, used oils and objects containing antimony. The project will be completed at the end of May 2019.

Ambassador Knobel said that in Switzerland municipalities have an important administrative place in the introduction of such programmes because they are closely involved in the problems of the people and their resolution.