Waste - National Responses (Montenegro)

Waste management is one of the environmental sectors/topics where policy and planning frameworks have been reasonably well developed. Transposition of the complex EU waste legislation is however in a less advanced phase: the last EC Progress Reports (2007, 2008) assessed that, overall, alignment with the EU standards on waste was low, except for the Waste Framework Directive and the Hazardous Waste Directive.

The Waste Management Law (Official Gazette of the RM, No. 80/05 and 73/08) regulates types and classification of wastes; planning of waste management; conditions for waste collection, transport, treatment, storage and disposal; rights, duties and responsibilities of legal and physical persons involved in waste management; and conditions and procedures for waste management permits. It also defines principles for managing specific waste streams, sets a legal basis for regulation of waste incineration, etc. The Law was planned to come into force in November 2008, but due to a delay in fulfilling conditions for its implementation, the coming into force of a number of provisions was postponed to 2010.

Preparation of bylaws, rulebooks, on landfills and on classification of wastes/methods for waste examination is ongoing. A comprehensive plan for further transposition of EU waste legislation is set out in the National Programme for Integration (NPI). In the period 2008-2009, transposition efforts focus on framework, hazardous waste and landfill directives, regulation of shipments of waste, and decisions on waste lists. Further transposition of legislation on waste incineration and specific waste streams is planned for the period 2010-2012.

Montenegro acceded, by succession, to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in 2006.

The key stakeholder is the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment (MSPE). The newly established Environmental Protection Agency will also play a significant role in this area through its permitting, monitoring, inspection and communication responsibilities. Another institution that has an important role when it comes to waste data is the Montenegrin statistical office MONSTAT. Local administrations are in charge of development and application of waste management policy at the local level, and collection, transport and disposal of waste are organised within public utilities (enterprises for provision of communal services). The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) has recently been established to assist municipal utilities with development and management of investment projects for environmental infrastructure. Regulatory mechanisms for the participation of the private sector in the provision of waste management services are being developed, which makes the private sector an important stakeholder in the waste management cycle. This refers not only to potential involvement in collection, treatment and disposal of wastes, but also to the private sector as a waste generator.

NGOs and the general public have an important role to play in the area of awareness raising and changing behaviour in respect to waste.

The National Waste Management Policy was adopted in 2004, setting the basic principles and goals for waste management. These include prevention and minimisation of waste generation, prevention of pollution, liability for environmental pollution from wastes – the polluter pays principle – and similar.

The Strategic Master Plan for Solid Waste Management was adopted in 2005. The overall aim of the plan is to minimise the impact of waste on the environment, to improve resource-use efficiency and to remedy past mismanagement of waste. The Master Plan envisages the construction of seven regional landfills for municipal waste to serve all 21 municipalities in Montenegro, rehabilitation of the existing waste disposal sites, improvements in waste collection systems including enhancement of recycling schemes, as well as improvements in management and disposal of specific waste types including hazardous, medical wastes, sewage sludge. Total investments for the implementation of the Plan until 2014 are estimated at around €120 million.

The National Waste Management Plan was adopted in 2008, and preparation of a number of local waste management plans is under way. The National Plan defines waste management objectives and provides conditions for rational and sustainable waste management for the next five years.