MIHAJLOVIC: We annually lose EUR 25 million on hazardous waste

(Zorana Mihajlovic)

Minister of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection Zorana Mihajlovic said that Serbia should not let others make profit from its hazardous waste, pointing out that we annually lose between 20 and 25 million euros for not exporting that waste.

- This waste is processed in a treatment plant in downtown Vienna without any emission that is harmful to the environment - she added, stressing that Serbia should not let others make money from that. With a hazardous waste treatment plant, Serbia could become a regional center for such activity, Mihajlovic pointed out.

She said that the hazardous waste treatment plant in downtown Vienna was extremely clean, adding that if a decision was made to build a similar plant in Serbia, that would have to be done using the best technology.

She explained that Serbia had about 5,000 landfills and that "nobody can guarantee that there is no hazardous waste at these landfills."

Mihajlovic also noted that amendments and supplements to the Waste Management Law were already prepared, announcing that they would soon be forwarded to the government and adopted in the Serbian parliament by the year's end.