INTERVIEW-Croatia looks to 2015 to reach EU waste standards
16 Sep 2009 15:15:38 GMT Source: Reuters
By Zoran Radosavljevic ZAGREB, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Croatia is improving its waste management facilities as part of the country's bid to join the European Union and should attain EU standards by 2015, the head of the top state ecology body said on Wednesday. "We have sanitized 700 of the estimated 3,000 illegal dump sites and are working to consolidate five of the 11 toxic waste sites," Vinko Mladineo, told Reuters in an interview. "I believe that around 2015 we shall reach the environment protection level of highly developed EU countries," he said at the sidelines of an energy conference. Right now, one of the country's largest dumps is in the capital on the banks of the Sava river. Nearby residents say the smell becomes so unbearable in the summer they have to keep their windows closed. Mladineo says his Fund for Environment and Energy Efficiency plans to close all such sites and build new waste management centres. Environmental concerns were a low priority for authorities in communist Yugoslavia, from which Croatia gained independence in 1991. The negligence continued well into the 1990s, when it was common to dump old cars or washing machines in woods or by roadsides. In 2005 Croatia started EU accession talks in 2005 and the need to meet environmental standards focused attention. Nikola Ruzinski, who is in charge of environment talks with the European Commission, said Croatia should open the environment 'chapter' on Oct. 2, when neighbouring EU member Slovenia lifts its nine month-old veto and Zagreb resumes entry talks. "We have a few more meetings (with Brussels) and we hope to close the chapter in December," Ruzinski said. Mladineo said the Fund had so far approved energy and environment projects worth 5.6 billion kuna ($1.12 billion) and actually disbursed more than a half of it. "The citizens' ecological awareness has strongly increased, but also that of the public administration and companies. Croatia is among the five richest European countries in natural water and Mladineo said the ecological investments were helping to preserve the natural water resources, farmland and tourism -- the country's main hard currency earner. "Our future lies in water, ecological farming and tourism," Mladineo said and added: "Recession has not slowed us down. Everyone is ready to invest more in environment and efficiency because they realise it gives us a competitive advantage....In this respect, Europe has already recognized us as a leader in the region." (Reporting by Zoran Radosavljevic, Editing by Matthew Jones)
Dentists work on an Italian patient at DentVitalis clinic in Rijeka, on Croatia's northern Adriatic coast, on September 2, 2009. Croatia earned more than 7.5 billion euros from tourism in 2008, ...
