In 2000, solid waste collection services in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) 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 was launched to improve solid waste services in participating priority areas. Project objectives included increasing administrative and technical capacity for solid waste management at the local and entity level, improving cost recovery, encouraging private sector involvement, addressing environmental problems, and reducing health hazards caused by inadequate waste collection and disposal systems.
With six regional landfills established by the end of the project, almost half of the country’s population is benefiting.
Highlights:
- Nearly 50 percent of solid waste is now disposed in a sanitary landfill or in another environmentally sound manner.
- A total of 145 wild dumpsites were cleaned and closed, greatly reducing environmental and health hazards. This represents more than a 10 percent reduction of wild dumpsites; and by the end of the project, 15 percent 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 the cooperation of multiple municipalities. Implementation progress has been particularly impressive in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica, and Bijeljina
The Government has repeatedly asked IDA for continued support to the sector. Solid Waste Management remains a priority for the BH Government and the IDA’s ongoing support has been agreed upon in the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for FY08-11. This reflects the continuous support the Solid Waste Management Project receives from the BH Government and will allow IDA to meet the Governments demand to scale-up the operation and include additional regions into the project. In addition to its financial contributions of US$26 million, IDA played a coordinating role in helping the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina raise additional resources from other donors.
Due to limited available resources and huge needs for further investments in the sector, the Government and IDA have sought additional funding for the sector from numerous bilateral and donor agencies since 2002 and from the beginning of the project IDA has been coordinating closely with a number of donors in the sector. The solid waste strategy which is guiding investments in the sector was funded by the EU in 2000. Since then, many activities have been financed in parallel by other donors. Donors are very supportive of IDA’s work in the sector and have provided substantial technical assistance. IDA has strong partnership arrangements in technical assistance in coordination with the European Union, JICA, SIDA and USAID. Technical assistance was provided by EU, SIDA, JICA and USAID. The EU financed a few technical assistance activities as well as cleaning up of one of the biggest wild dump site in the Republika Sprska (Knezevo). EU will also consider parallel financing parts of the Second Solid Waste Management Project and the future programming in this sector for the IPA funds will be closely coordinated with the PMU. It was agreed recently with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MoFTER), BiH that donor coordination in the Solid Waste sector will be formalized, and donor coordination meeting will be held few times a year chaired by the MoFTER Assistant Minister.
Although progress under the first solid waste management project was impressive, wild dumping remains a challenge in Bosnia and Herzegovina; numerous illegal dumpsites can still be found in many municipalities. These wild dumpsites contain various household, industrial, and hazardous clinical wastes and even animal carcasses. Clean-up and closure remains a high priority, but requires setting up functioning sanitary landfills that provide an alternative for disposal. In light of the significant environmental improvement in participating areas, the Solid Waste Management Project was expanded through additional financing. A new project is being prepared to support the construction of six new sanitary landfills by the end of 2013. Expected impacts of this second project include an improved disposal management system and enhanced coverage of formal waste management services, improved ground water quality at disposal sites, higher citizen satisfaction with waste management services, and an increased cost recovery rate of participating utilities.
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