WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA FOR THE PERIOD 2017-2022 (Plan) AMENDMENT OF THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA FOR THE PERIOD 2017-2022

Published on January 25, 2022

The transition to Sustainable Consumption and Production is encouraged by the Waste Prevention Program (Program), which is an integral part of the Plan. The Program contains measures that, among other things, encourage and support: sustainable production and consumption models; design, production and use of resource-efficient, durable products that can be repaired, reused and upgraded; re-use of products and the establishment of systems to promote repair and re-use activities, in particular electrical and electronic equipment, textiles and furniture, as well as packaging and construction materials and products; availability of spare parts, instructions for use, technical information or other instruments, equipment or software that allow the product to be repaired and reused.

Measures relevant to Sustainable Consumption and Production that are prescribed include: encouraging the reuse of demolition materials; promoting sustainable construction; promoting Green Public Procurement; encouraging the sharing and reuse of used products; improving the system for collecting and processing data on food waste; promotion of home composting; encouraging the reduction of consumption of plastic carrier bags.

With this Plan Croatia is creating the preconditions to keep pace with the circular economy, a new concept that respects the development of industry and the economy, but also takes care of environmental and nature protection at EU level and thus creates new jobs.

This Plan will enable the development of the recycling industry, the creation of new green jobs and the fulfillment of EU commitments regarding recycling.

Waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting are at the forefront. The most important measures from the Plan are separate collection on the doorstep, introduction of incentive measures in the collection of public waste collection service according to composition and quantity, and introduction of a fee for municipal waste disposal.

The backbone of the Plan are recycling yards, recycling centers with sorting plants and composting plants where separately collected waste will be prepared for recycling. For unbuilt Waste Management Centers, it is necessary to adjust the capacity and contents to the goals of this Plan, which is why it is necessary to prepare a feasibility study for each of them.

The plan is in line with the Waste Framework Directive. It regulates the achievement of goals in terms of separate collection and recycling of municipal waste components, is an integral part of the Waste Prevention Plan, introduces measures for separate collection at source, waste selection and encouraging composting of waste at the household and local level.

Some of the most important measures are the encouragement of separate collection of paper, cardboard, metals, glass, plastics and biowaste, separate collection of waste on the doorstep, introduction of incentives for public service collection of municipal waste by composition and quantity, introduction of municipal waste disposal fee, encouragement home and municipal composting, construction of sorting plants, IT support for monitoring waste streams and a number of educational and informational measures.