Garbage fees should be collected on the "polluter pays" principle. After the New Year, some municipalities in the country may choose to introduce this option for waste disposal. However, most municipalities in our country still do not have the technical ability to do this, although the principle is enshrined in European legislation and is based on the actual amount of waste disposed of. In Bulgaria, its mandatory implementation was postponed to 2027, and in Pomorie the model is already being tested, BNT reports.
Georgi Petkov, Municipality of Pomorie: “They got used to separating the waste into bags. They were taken from them door to door. We have moved on to installing equipment at 13 points in the neighborhood, which we call shelters. They are containers with closed access. There are four types of containers with controlled access - for food waste, for paper, for large-volume cartons and for glass.“
The changes make it difficult for residents, but Svetlana quickly gets used to it and now throws out waste according to the new rules - with an individual chip.
Svetlana Valkova, resident of Pomorie: “We had to collect in different bags, distribute them - one for paper, one for food waste. However, over time it turned out that it is not so difficult and impossible to do it. The principle is as follows - the container is opened, the bag is thrown away.“
Each household receives numbered gray bags for mixed waste that is not recyclable.
Georgi Petkov, Pomorie Municipality: “Our waste collection company uses trucks equipped with readers. When throwing away the bag with the corresponding RFID code, it passes through the truck's reader and is assigned to the respective household. This way, we know how much mixed waste each household throws away. This is what will be charged as a municipal waste fee from next year.“
However, most municipalities are in no hurry to introduce the “polluter pays“ principle, after the deadline was extended to 2027.
Dimitar Gavazov, mayor of Sungurlare municipality: “We have such a commission that is working in this direction, but at the moment we do not have an adopted regulation yet. As far as I know, a large part of the municipalities in Bulgaria - maybe about 70% - are not ready to adopt it.“
Petko Pramatarov: “It will not be difficult for us, because I have experienced this. We used to have a bucket, everyone filled their own bucket and paid for the bucket.“
Georgi Petkov, Pomorie Municipality: “Only about 10% of all household waste is mixed. In practice, they will pay almost nothing if they wish to separate it.“
Until the end of 2026, the garbage fee will continue to be determined according to the property tax assessment.