site.btaSofia Municipality Maintains Emergency Waste Collection Measures in Lyulin and Krasno Selo Boroughs

Sofia Municipality will continue the emergency waste collection arrangements in the Lyulin and Krasno Selo boroughs until the regular schedule is fully restored, Deputy Mayor for Ecology Nadezhda Bobcheva announced at a briefing on Monday, together with Sofia’s Inspectorate Director Nikolay Nedelkov and Sofia’s Waste Treatment Plant Director Nikolay Savov.

According to Bobcheva, the main issue remains the shortage of workers, despite the fact that the technical capacity is already in place. “We have the equipment, but we cannot use it to its full capacity because there are not enough people. Some of the staff is on sick leave, while others are not adhering to their schedules,” she said.

Bobcheva expressed gratitude to the volunteers and residents of the two districts for their cooperation and patience. She added that eight large grey containers have been placed in Lyulin and three in Krasno Selo, along with additional green recycling bins provided by the Gorata.bg association. The Deputy Mayor urged residents to continue separating their waste, saying that the amount of separately collected recyclables has doubled in recent weeks.

She added that additional workers are expected to join the cleanup teams today, allowing all trucks to operate at full capacity. The municipal company Sofecostroy, which recently received an additional BGN 9 million under a decision of the Sofia Municipal Council, will contribute resources to the effort.

In compliance with the Regional Health Inspectorate’s recommendation, disinfection, disinsection, and deratization have been carried out within a 100–150-meter radius at all waste collection points, Bobcheva said.

Sofia’s Inspectorate Director Nedelkov said that over the weekend, the waste collection teams responded to citizen alerts and serviced critical locations. Currently, six Sofia Waste Treatment Plant trucks and two Sofecostroy trucks are in operation, prioritizing areas with the largest waste accumulation. He explained that in the coming days, 12 garbage collection vehicles, five assigned to Lyulin and seven to Krasno Selo, will be able to cover all scheduled routes. The number of critical points currently ranges between 50 and 70 per day, he added.

Sofia’s Waste Treatment Plant Director Savov appealed to residents for patience and urged them to refrain from verbally abusing waste collection workers. “They are on site to do their job, not to be insulted,” he said.

Bobcheva stated that no financial compensation is planned for residents of the two boroughs but announced that the municipality will launch a waste separation campaign, which will include the provision of additional bins and containers to encourage recycling and responsible waste management.