European Commission (EC) closed the criminal procedure against Bulgaria after our country closed it and reclamation of all old landfills fulfilled its obligations under the Landfill Directive.
This was announced by the press center of the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW).
The decision of the EC is from April 24 of this year. and it comes after last December our country reported that all 113 landfills subject to the 2015 CJEU ruling have been closed and reclaimed. On November 17, 2023, the reclamation of the last non-compliant municipal landfill was also completed. The commission checked the implementation of the concluded reclamation activities of all 113 municipal landfills.
With the closure of the criminal procedure Bulgaria avoided paying serious financial sanctionswhich threatened our country if it does not fulfill the requirements and does not remedy the violations of EU law in the field of waste disposal.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is inspecting 8 landfills involved in criminal proceedings against the country
A delay was reported in the start of the activities to implement the reclamation of the landfill in the municipality of Pirdop
The results are pollution minimization of the environment, prevention of potential contamination of water sources, capture and removal of landfill gas safely and controllably from the body of the landfill, improvement of the living conditions of the population.
The purpose is to strengthen the ground on which they were accumulated waste and to ensure maximum sustainability and isolation of 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.
It is recalled that with the decision of the Court of the EU since July 16, 2015, Bulgaria was condemned for failing to protect 113 non-respondents of the landfill requirements for non-hazardous waste by July 2009.
In the fall of 2021, the European Commission warned that our country is about to be brought before the Court of the EU for payment of significant financial sanctions due to still unreclaimed 43 landfills for non-hazardous waste out of the 113 – subject of the criminal procedure.
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