Institutional inertia enables criminal waste activities
Zelena Akcija / FoE Croatia calls on the relevant authorities to implement strict and systematic controls over the issuance of permits, as well as the handling, transportation, and disposal of waste, particularly plastic and hazardous waste, which are often the targets of criminal activities throughout Croatia.
As long as the system remains flawed and inefficient, illegal waste operations will continue, with polluters profiting at the expense of public health and the environment.
FoE Croatia calls for the urgent cleanup of all illegal waste dumps across Croatia, stricter penalties for polluters, and compensation for people whose quality of life has been compromised. The organisation also warns that those fighting against unlawful activities are often threatened, and demands protection for them.
For many years, FoE Croatia has been warning that the waste management system, particularly concerning waste plastics, hazardous waste, and construction waste, suffers from numerous issues tolerated by authorities at all levels, from local to national, with the most notable issue being the ineffectiveness of the State Inspectorate. In practice, we see that only after pressure from individuals, initiatives, NGOs, and the media are certain cases addressed, often with some form of sanctions. However, this is rare, and the fines imposed are inadequate to discourage perpetrators from further environmental pollution.
Numerous locations where waste is illegally dumped, whether on the ground or buried, have yet to be remediated. One such case is Ježdovečka forest in the west of Zagreb, where illegal deforestation, sand and gravel extraction, and waste dumping, including hazardous waste, have been ongoing for years. Although some polluters have been fined, illegal activities have continued, and tens of thousands of tonnes of waste have not been removed. Similar cases are found across Croatia, and recently, the public became aware of those in Gospić, Pazin, Varaždin, Poznanovec, and Kosnica, about which FoE Croatia has been informing the relevant authorities for years.
In addition to illegal waste dumping, another issue is that the ministry responsible for waste management lacks clear criteria for authorising companies to manage waste. Permits are granted without inspections by the authorities on-site, which leads to the accumulation of waste, often processed under inadequate conditions, resulting in environmental pollution and health impacts. An example of this is the plastic waste processing plant in Vrginmost, which for years threatened the quality of life of the local population. The facility is currently closed thanks to the efforts of the local community, with support from FoE Croatia. However, this remains yet another case where no one has been held criminally accountable, nor has remediation been carried out. Since part of the waste in Vrginmost was imported from abroad, it is evident that Croatia is gaining a reputation as a haven for illegal waste management, facilitated by high levels of corruption, making it the perfect destination for waste from all over Europe.
Furthermore, there are companies where accidents, such as fires, repeatedly occur. This indicates insufficient measures to prevent such incidents, with the inadequacy of penalties making the violations more financially advantageous than preventing fires. The most notable examples are the frequent fires at CIOS Group companies and Drava International facilities, with the public questioning whether these incidents are accidental, considering that the cost of properly managing the waste would far exceed the costs associated with such incidents.
It is clear that the relevant authorities are failing to adequately monitor equipment, working conditions, and the flow of taken waste, thus enabling polluters to profit while causing significant harm to the environment.
