Without the recultivation of the city landfill and the construction of a regional center, there will not be much progress in waste treatment in Kolašin.
The Kolašin Municipal Enterprise does not know when the Bakovići landfill will be recultivated, and the director Dusan Simović He tells "Vijesti" that after the Municipality was informed about the need to prepare a Main Revised Project, the Ministry of Public Works, after a tender, selected "Urbi Pro" from Podgorica for the job.
Simović recalls that in 2023, the Municipality prepared a conceptual design for the recultivation of the Bakovići landfill area, which it submitted to the then Capital Projects Administration for further action. After submitting the conceptual design, the Capital Projects Administration announced tenders for the selection of contractors, but there was no interest in them.
The Bakovići landfill, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the Tara River and its tributary, the Plašnica River, has been “temporary” since 1984 and, according to official data, is an unregulated waste disposal site. The environmental impact assessment study offered four methods for solving the numerous challenges at the site, and the option “waste recomposition by forming cassettes” was chosen.
As explained, it should be implemented according to the most modern environmental standards, using the so-called "land mining" method - excavation of waste, which is carried out after degassing.
"The waste is returned to the same area, after its removal, a cassette is formed according to the standard for sanitary landfills, lined with waterproof material and equipped with all accompanying facilities. The advantage of this method is that the entire contents of the landfill are moved to a well-maintained waterproof surface without changing the location. Remediation in this way, although more expensive than others, is suitable for small landfills, primarily due to the elimination of harmful impacts on sensitive ecosystems, such as the Tara watercourse and its underground aquifer," the Study states.
It was also explained that "in parallel with the waste relocation works, new quantities are also being disposed of, and the terrain is being prepared for the reception of new quantities of waste for a limited period". The planned technical solutions envisage the construction of three cascade cassettes, cut into the slope. The selected variant, as stated in the Study, among other advantages, frees up municipal plots with a total area of 26.500 square meters, which are planned for an industrial zone according to the DUP.
According to the director of the Municipal Department, construction waste is still being disposed of in Bakovići, and this will only change after the landfill area is recultivated.
"The landfill in Bakovići has so far been used for the disposal of construction waste. Only after the recultivation of this area is completed, we expect that the Municipality will find a new location that will be suitable for this purpose in accordance with the planning documents," he says.
Simović explains that illegal landfills are not just a problem for DOO Komunalno. According to him, the creation of illegal landfills should be suppressed by the Municipal Police Service and the Municipal Inspection. The municipal company, he claims, is the last link in the chain related to this issue, and that company can only carry out the cleanup.
As he reminds, by adopting the National Waste Management Plan, all local governments are obliged to adopt a Local Plan for the Management of Municipal and Non-Hazardous Construction Waste, in accordance with applicable regulations. For now, there cannot be much activity in Kolašin when it comes to waste recycling, and this will be possible, says the director of the Kolašin Municipal Company, only with the construction of a regional waste management center in Bijelo Polje, which would be operational for the municipalities of Mojkovac, Kolašin, Berane, Rožaje, Plav, Petnjica, Gusinje, Bijelo Polje, Pljevlja, Andrijevica.
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