New waste strategy for Serbia
With know-how from the Environment Agency Austria to better waste management
From left to right: Radmila Šerović, Head of Waste Management Department at Ministry of Environmental Protection, Sem Fabrizi, EU Ambassador to Serbia, Goran Trivan, Minister for Environmental Protection of Serbia, Nikolaus Lutterotti, Austrian Ambassador to Serbia
Serbia has a new waste strategy which aims to improve Serbia’s waste prevention and reuse activities by 2025. The strategy is the result of a cooperation project between the Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria), the Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection and partners from other EU Member States. Together they have improved the strategic and legal framework for waste management over the past two and a half years and thus assisted Serbia in its EU accession process. “The new waste strategy defines measures for the next five years that will bring Serbia’s waste management up to European standards and pave the way towards sustainable development”, explained Georg Rebernig, Managing Director of the Environment Agency Austria, at the official closing event for the project in Belgrade on 29 January. “The direction for 2050 is set by the European Green Deal.”
“The new waste strategy defines measures for the next five years that will bring Serbia’s waste management up to European standards and pave the way towards sustainable development. The direction for 2050 is set by the European Green Deal.”
Key areas of cooperation
The starting point for the development of the new Serbian strategy was an evaluation of the current situation, an analysis of the legal framework and possible financial assistance. Based on this, a strategy for the next five years was defined together with representatives from business and administration, a Serbian waste management plan was prepared and a waste prevention programme was drawn up. Under the leadership of the Environment Agency Austria, the junior partners – the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Naturvårdsverket and the Lithuanian Environment Ministry – contributed their know how. The results were presented at the closing event in Belgrade, which was attended by a large number of representatives from national and international institutions, including Goran Trivan, the Serbian Environment Minister, and Mateja Norčič Štamcar, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia. The cooperation project between Austria, Serbia, Sweden and Lithuania was financed through funds from the European Instrument for Preaccession Assistance (IPA).
The Environment Agency Austria in a nutshell
The Environment Agency Austria is Austria’s most important environmental expert institution and, with a demonstrable track record of more than 100 projects in 27 countries in eastern and south-eastern Europe and in the Mediterranean countries, an experienced project partner. The Environment Agency Austria stands for a transformation of the economy and society to ensure sustainable living. Our experts develop the basis for decision making at local, regional, European and international level. Since 1999, the Environment Austria has been supporting central and south-eastern European authorities in institutional capacity building and in the implementation of EU legislation.
