The Chamber of Commerce and the Government have agreed – we will quickly remove the barriers that hinder the “circular economy”. This means returning waste to production again, as a new source of energy, which reduces the emission of harmful gases into the atmosphere. Serbia’s potential for energy production from waste is huge, but slightly used.
Businessmen expect the state to start disposing of waste in an organized manner as soon as possible and to turn it into energy. Large industrial polluters warn that they are obliged to reduce air pollution and that due to the use of fossil fuels, their production is neither sustainable nor competitive.
Dimitrije Knjeginjic, director of the company “Lafarge Serbia”, says that there is no drastic reduction of carbon dioxide without quality alternative fuel.
“When we talk about sustainability, today we are at the level that the import of cement to Serbia is at the level of production of Cementara ‘Kosjeric’, that our costs are 30 euros per ton higher than competing companies from the region. The main reason is the inability to import and the use of alternative fuels for energy purposes in Serbia,” Knjeginjic pointed out.
The government does not dispute that there are problems in waste management. They say that they are already working on removing legal blockades and creating conditions for organized disposal of waste and converting it into energy, because that is a priority job for the country.
“At the same time, the capacities at the landfills, city and unsanitary landfills, of which there are 3,500, will be significantly brought under control,” said Irena Vujovic, the Minister of Environmental Protection.
Zorana Mihajlovic, Minister of Mining and Energy, says that waste is used for the production of heat and electricity – to have cogeneration.
“Because that cogeneration leads to a higher degree of utilization, so the percentage of utilization in cogeneration plants is over 90 percent. Another important thing that changes everything in our country in this and the years ahead is that energy and environmental protection can no longer do without each other, it must be together,” Mihajlovic pointed out.
Analyzes show that 12 million tons of various waste are produced in our country annually. As many as 10 million are not treated, that is, they remain and pollute the environment, although the “circular economy” could create more than 30,000 jobs, RTS reports.
