Regular meeting of the Business Council in the Waste Management Sector

On 10.03.2023 in the town of Smolyan was held a meeting of the Business Council in the sector of Waste Management in the border regions of Blagoevgrad, Haskovo, Kardzhali and Smolyan, the activity is implemented under the project "Business Council - BC 6275" funded by the INTERREG V/A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020, Subsidy contract № B6.3a.18/13.04.2021.

The meeting was attended by 6 representatives from the waste management sector from the border regions of Haskovo, Kardzhali, Blagoevgrad and Smolyan. The meeting was held in the Rotary Hall in the hotel "Kiparis Alfa" - town of Krasnodar. Smolyan. It was technically equipped with: multimedia, laptop, printer, microphone(s) and sound system, as well as information boards, banner and presentation materials, according to the requirements of the Communication and Publicity Manual of the Interreg V/A Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020 Programme. In addition, disinfectants as well as water, coffee, tea were provided to secure the coffee break of the event.

The moderator of the event welcomed all attendees, after which time was set aside for introductions of new members. Finally, a proposal for the agenda of the meeting was made and the free discussion started.

The topic of the free discussion was the lack of waste management habits of Bulgarian citizens. Unfortunately, most households do not separate the waste they generate.

Council members note that they face a lot of mistrust from people - it is often believed that the waste that is collected separately ends up being collected together, thus defeating the whole idea of separate collection. Despite the claim of local authorities that citizens are informed about the waste collection processes, there is still a perceived mistrust of people and this is one of the main reasons why they do not separate their rubbish.

Those present at the meeting discussed the development of a major online campaign to promote waste management to households and SMEs. Recommendations were given on the separate collection and recycling of household, textile and non-hazardous industrial waste.

The participants commented on the waste management policies and suggestions were made to focus on when developing the publications for the online campaign.