Managing Solid Waste
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Solid Waste Management Project

• Overview
• Results
• Counterparts
• Task Team
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In 2000, solid waste collection services in Bosnia and Herzegovina covered only about 60 percent of the larger municipalities and a much lower share in rural towns. Institutional and enforcement capacity was weak, and equipment for waste collection and disposal were obsolete and poorly maintained. As a result, significant amounts of waste were discarded in unofficial sites such as wild dumps, roadsides, rivers and mines, posing a direct risk to public health and causing serious environmental problems.

In 2002, the Solid Waste Management Project, supported by IDA funding of US$26 million, was launched to improve solid waste services in participating priority areas, increase administrative and technical capacity for solid waste management at the local and entity level, improve cost recovery and encourage private sector involvement, and address environmental problems and reduce health hazards caused by inadequate waste collection and disposal systems. This was the first Bank-financed project implemented by only one Project Management Unit (PMU) for both entities. Given the significant environmental improvement in participating areas, the project was expanded through additional financing, and a new project is being prepared to support construction of six new sanitary landfills by the end of 2013.

	"With completion of this phase of the Project, 50 percent of both the territory and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be covered. " —Mr. Muris Hadzic, Asst. Minister—Federation BH Ministry of Environment and Tourism
	"Landfill cells are covered with plastic sheets for sanitary waste disposal, and the land was re-cultivated to plant over 30,000 tree seedlings. " —Mr. Selim Babic, PGeneral Manager, Communal company "RAD" – Sarajevo

• With six regional landfills established by the end of the project, almost half of the population of the country will benefit from the project services. Nearly 50 percent of solid waste will now be disposed in a sanitary landfill or other environmentally sound manner.
• A total number of 145 wild dump sites were cleaned and closed, greatly reducing environmental and health hazards. This presents more than a 10 percent reduction of wild dump sites, and, by the end of the project, 15 percent of wild dumps sites will be closed.
• Sarajevo and Banja Luka have recycling arrangements with private recycling factories for paper, plastic, metal and tires. The Sarajevo landfill is now a model for the rest of the country and the region.
• The collection rate in the project region has increased from 40 to 70 percent.
• Seven multi-municipal waste management districts were established through cooperation of multiple municipalities. Implementation progress has been particularly impressive in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Bijeljina.
• Project implementation through one single PMU at entity level fosters inter-entity cooperation, increases efficiency, and reduces cost of project management.

• H.E. Nevenko Herceg, Minister of Environment and Tourism – Federation BH
• H.E. Fatima Fatihbegovic, Minister of Urbanism, Civil Engineering and Environment - Republika Srpska
• Mr. Muris Hadzic, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Environment and Tourism – Federation BH
• Mr. Zdravko Begovic, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Urbanism, Civil Engineering and Environment - Republika Srpska
• Ms. Amra Krajina, Project Coordinator

• Vesna Francic – Task Team Leader
• Aniruddha Dasgupta, Lead Urban Planner
• Ahmet Gokce, PAS
• Lamija Hadzagic, FMS
• Natasa Vetma, Environmental Specialist
• Björn Philipp, Task Team Member
• Philip W. Moeller, Social Specialist
• Delphine Hamilton, Program Assistant
• Seema Manghee, Task Team Leader at appraisal

• Project Page