The EC closed the criminal proceedings against Bulgaria after the country closed and rehabilitated all old municipal landfills

The European Commission (EC) closed the criminal procedure against Bulgaria after our country closed and rehabilitated all old landfills and fulfilled its obligations under the Waste Landfill Directive. This was announced by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW).
The decision of the EC is from April 24 and comes after last December our country reported that all 113 landfills, subject to the decision of the Court of the European Union (EU) from 2015, have been closed and rehabilitated. On November 17, 2023, the reclamation of the last non-compliant municipal landfill was also completed. The commission checked the implementation of the completed reclamation activities of all 113 municipal landfills.
By closing the criminal procedure, Bulgaria avoided the payment of serious financial sanctions, which threatened our country if it did not meet the requirements and did not remedy the violations of EU law in the field of waste disposal, the ecoministry wrote.
The results of the closure and reclamation of landfills are to minimize environmental pollution, prevent potential contamination of water sources, capture and remove landfill gas safely and controllably from the body of the landfill, improve the living conditions of the population, it is clear from the announcement
The purpose of landfill closure and reclamation is to strengthen the terrain on which waste was accumulated and to ensure maximum sustainability and isolation of the waste. Protection against leachate penetration into the water is provided, the release of odors and dust particles, as well as the scattering of plastics, paper, etc., are stopped. light fractions.
With the decision of the EU Court of Justice of July 16, 2015, Bulgaria was condemned for not closing 113 non-compliant landfills for non-hazardous waste by July 2009. In the autumn of 2021, the European Commission warned that the country us to be brought before the Court of the EU for the payment of significant financial sanctions due to the still unrecovered 43 landfills for non-hazardous waste out of the 113 – the subject of the criminal procedure.
On December 13, 2023, Bulgaria notified the EC that all the landfills subject to the decision of the Court of the European Union from 2015 have been closed and recultivated, the Ministry of Environment and Water announced. More than 30 municipal landfills for non-hazardous waste have been cultivated with funds in the amount of nearly BGN 44 million, provided under the Operational Program “Environment 2014-2020”. The total reclaimed area is 102.56 hectares on the territory of 31 municipalities.
The purpose of closure and reclamation of landfills is to encapsulate them by isolating them from the surrounding terrain by means of an upper watertight screen and with protective drainage ditches to drain stormwater away from the landfill bodies and surrounding terrain. In this way, the entry of surface water into them is also prevented, experts from the Enterprise for the Management of Environmental Protection Activities (PUDOOS) pointed out at the time.