Put the Right Thing in the Right Place: Final Conference

2 December 2020

The Final Conference about waste management was held at the Zagreb Fair Congress Centre as part of the “Put the Right Thing in the Right Place” project.
 
The value of the project amounts to HRK 4,945,708.54, of which HRK 3,600,000.00 was co-financed by the EU’s Cohesion Fund. The project was started in early 2019 with the aim of educating and informing citizens about responsible waste management and raising their awareness about the importance of their personal contribution and individual role in a comprehensive waste management system. Special attention was paid to educating citizens about separate waste management procedures and composting at home. The main focus was on circular economy, i.e. on reusing waste.
 
“Put the Right Thing in the Right Place” project included activities in which many kindergartens, schools and employees were involved. We also had various events, educational games and workshops for making promotional leaflets. Moreover, citizens of Zagreb also joined in the activities, said Mirka Jozić, Head of the City Office for Economy, Energy and Environmental Protection. She also pointed out that Zagreb can boast its 15% decrease in the amount of landfill waste compared to the previous year. “This year, we will landfill about 170,000 tonnes of waste, compared to 200,000 tonnes last year. Also, last year, about 7.25 % less waste was landfilled compared to 2018, , indicating a positive trend. As the quantity of landfill waste decreases, the quantity of sorted waste increases significantly. We hope that Zagreb will meet its obligations under European directives, which is extremely important for the Republic of Croatia to fulfil its obligations towards the EU. We have a good chance of accomplishing the objective we have set for us and joining other countries of the European community which have already achieved their goals.”
 
Ana Stojić Deban, President of the Management Board of Zagreb Holding, pointed out that every project activity was very challenging because it is not easy to change the old habits acquired by individuals and society in general. “Besides being extremely valuable in the context of general responsibility, the result has now indeed become measurable. All of this includes the effort we have put in our operating processes and infrastructure. All citizens of the City of Zagreb have been provided with bins for separate collection of waste at their home address. In addition to mixed municipal waste bins, we have also set up bins for paper waste and plastic and metal packaging, for which citizens receive yellow bags, as well as bags and bins for biowaste. Through our infrastructure, we have also set up about 700 recycling islands in all city districts and local committee areas. We also have eleven non-mobile and eight mobile
recycling centres. All this work has led to a reduced volume of mixed municipal waste deposited at landfill sites.”