Through the Project for Household Waste Separation "O-DVA-JA-MO", citizens of the municipality of Šid received 3,601 blue bins in which households will separate paper, plastic and metal. In addition, 42 blue containers for the same purpose and 52 yellow containers for glass were donated, which will be placed in residential areas, as well as a truck for the removal of separated dry waste.
The project aims to establish a system for waste separation at the point of origin in 17 municipalities across Serbia in the regions of Srem-Mačva, Pancevo, Duboko and Pirot by investing not only in equipment but also in informing citizens through about the advantages of separating household waste for its later successful recycling in order to reduce the amounts that end up in landfills and increase the recycling rate in 4 regions to 15% in the next two years.
"The distribution of containers, i.e. the formation of recycling islands, has started. We hope that by the middle of December, all the recycling islands will be established in the housing estates of Istok, the housing estate of Jelica, where there are smaller residential buildings, now we have smaller buildings, that is, in each of those locations," said Milenka Subić, Acting Director of PUC "Standard" Šid.
"The total value of the project is about 7 million euros, more precisely 6,951,000 euros, of which the Republic of Serbia participated together with local self-governments in a certain amount. Specifically for the municipality of Šid, this means that over 3,600 bins for waste separation and a truck for transporting separated waste have been donated, that is provided," said Dušan Čarkić, Assistant Minister of Environmental Protection, in an address to the media.
This project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia with the support of the European Union and the Kingdom of Sweden. The Swedish Embassy states that a strong and solid relationship has been established with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Environmental Protection - they work together to improve environmental conditions in Serbia.
The First Secretary of the Embassy of Sweden in Serbia, Ida Reuterswärd, said that this project had been prepared for a long time and that the conditions for its implementation had been created for years. First, they set out to create a legal framework so that waste separation could be implemented, several pilot projects were created in several municipalities in Serbia to see what it looks like, and now we are finally witnessing it happening in Šid.
"Today we will be able to see the truck that will start operating here in Šid, and of course the bins. But the most important work will be done in households in the city, where waste separation should begin. It is a very concrete thing that each of us can do to improve the environment. It reduces the amount of waste that remains in the landfill, and we can use that recycled waste to produce new things instead of just throwing it away," added Ms. Reuterswärd.
