In the European countries, one has to pay in order to deposit waste glass to the recycler, and only in North Macedonia, the companies are offering themselves to pay for this type of selected waste. Regardless, there is not enough interest in waste selection. This example was stated by AKRON company which treats waste glass in North Macedonia.
The company stresses that in North Macedonia there are around 30 large or small companies that are separating the glass from the remaining waste that ends in their recycling process. Still, there are importers of at least 1000 tons of flat glass that aren’t taking part in the selection process i.e. their managers aren’t concerned at all in order to create at least minimum conditions for waste selection.
“Such company has ar least 10% waste during the process of cutting out the glass. So, without breaking anything, damaging or making any mistakes, this company has at least 100 tons of waste glass annually. If it is transported at a legal landfill (Drisla) it will have to pay an additional 50 EUR per ton of deposited waste glass or at least 5,000 EUR,” explained AKRON company for Meta.mk
For those selecting the waste glass, they pay them 40 EUR per fon, but for many, it is not a reason enough for selecting the waste.
AKRON stress that the purchasing price for the glass is very low, and therefore there barely aren’t any informal collectors of this type of waste. They also said that the current legal regulations ban the depositing of waste glass into containers for communal waste including the ban on depositing glass in illegal landfills.
AKRON considers that apart from the implementation of the necessary infrastructure from separate containers and public communal enterprises that are collecting the selected waste separately, it is necessary for the people’s awareness to be turned on as well.
“If you rent an apartment in Ljubljana even for 2 days, the landlady will explain to you for half an hour how the waste is selected and thrown and she will stress if you make a mistake the fine for the whole house counsel will be paid by you,” said AKRON which also mentioned that if the employees at the communal enterprise in Ljubljana notice a badly selected waste, they will seal the container and an inspection will arrive which will fine the building’s house council.
