3 March, 2014, Belgrade

CEDEF AND PKS III Public Debate

TECHNOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND WASTE WATER TREATMENT - types and sources of financing

Central European Development Forum – CEDEF, organized the III Public Debate TECHNOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND WASTE WATER TREATMENT - types and sources of financing, on 21 March, the day before World Water Day, in cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and under the institutional auspices of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection of Republic of Serbia, the Agency for Environmental Protection and Republic of Serbia Secretariat for the Environment of Belgrade.

According to the World Trade Organization, the waste management sector indicates a continuous increase in privatisation in developing countries. New technologies for waste management include divert waste from landfills, increase recycling of materials and create new value through heat and electricity. However, the EU does not support the creation of landfills in the long run. The best results regarding waste management have been shown in countries that have a high percentage of thermal waste treatment in combination with a well- organized recycling industry. For example, in Germany, there are about 6000 plants for thermal waste processing.

On the other hand, there are 4,481 illegal landfillsin Serbia. Only in Belgrade there are about 300, and the disposal of waste at the local landfill is the most common method of waste management. Water and waste are tightly linked. One of the key sources of pollution of rivers in Serbia is untreated industrial and municipal wastewater. About 50% of the pollution in the rivers comes from industrial plants and only 13% of wastewater is treated before discharge, because a significant number of local governments in Serbia do not have a developed sewage infrastructure.

The program of the Debate can be downloaded here.