Good practice:

Our village for zero waste

"Our village for zero waste" – is based on a very successful good practice from Satovcha, Blagoevgrad. The citizen pays for municipal waste management, according to the amount of waste.
The project aims to prevent the generation of municipal waste and reduce the amount of mixed waste, as well as to increase the waste collected for recycling. The data from the selected households were collected for a period of 12 months. The analysed data served for recommendations to determine the most appropriate and fair model for the upcoming municipal waste tax.
The initiative is a good example of the forthcoming introduction of the “Polluter pays” principle. The good practice distributes mixed and separate waste collection bins to the participating families. The amount of waste collected from 200 families in the Satovcha municipality is measured. Based on that, a fair model for the formation of fees for municipal waste will be prepared and proposed.
By attracting attention, these households are expected to reduce waste generation and increase the amount of separately collected municipal waste. This is the only practice in Bulgaria, that introduces an initiative for determining the municipal waste tax according to the amount of generated waste.
The initiative is a combination of developing infrastructure for waste collection of mixed household waste, paper, cardboard, plastic, biodegradable waste, gardening waste, and many recyclable waste – glass, metal, batteries, etc.

The total funding of the project is BGN 390,471 of which BGN 325,357 comes from the European Regional Development Fund. With BGN 57,416 national funding and BGN 7,697 funding from the municipality of Satovcha.

Citizens pay according to the amount of waste generated. The practice contributes to the European recycling goals and boosts the national circular economy. This way we are raising awareness of waste separation and recycling and thus involving citizens in circular economy.

The project is still in its infancy and it is difficult for citizens to adapt and implement the habit of proper recycling. People in small settlements and especially in the villages are used to burning some of the waste, this needs to change.

The project will contribute to reducing the amount of landfilled waste and increasing municipal recycling.
The initiative attracts attention and introduces the public to the upcoming economic incentive to prevent the generation of municipal waste, reducing mixed municipal waste and increasing the waste separation and recycling. It increases public awareness of proper municipal waste management. With hopes to lead to a society with zero waste by reducing the amount of household waste. Also, companies will be introduced in the systems for separate waste collection of recyclable waste, thus, offering new green jobs and boosting the economy. The practice may spread to other municipalities, regions and to the rest of the country.