EU pressures Sofia over new garbage depots

The European Commissioner in charge of Environmental policies Stavros Dimas has asked for an explanation from the Bulgaria authorities on the chosen way for "temporary bailing of garbage."

The news was broken Tuesday by the Movement for Green Bulgaria, which also explained that Sofia will have to answer whether the procedure obeys the specialized European directives in that field.

After the garbage depot at Sofia’s Suhodol was officially closed in October, Sofia municipality announced that the enormous amounts of garbage that the capital produces daily will be processed at the three bailing facilities.

The three facilities are situated in the capital’s Trebich, Kremikovtsi and Novi Iskar.

Due to the several garbage crises that hit Sofia in past months, the bailing facilities started their operation without waiting for proper permission by the Environment Ministry. Workers at the facilities still have no information where the bailed garbage should be taken.

The capital’s governors have been under massive pressure to close the Suhodol garbage dump. Now that this has been done, another problem remains in the face of people living near the new facilities. This has sparkled further trouble, and has started protests from local people saying that the garbage bales could leak and damage the environment.

Source: Sofia News Agency