18.06.2026.
The final conference was held at the location of the Waste Management Centre (WMC) Babina gora, for the project that includes seven cities and 22 municipalities in the area of Karlovac, the northeastern part of Lika-Senj, and the western part of Sisak-Moslavina County. This is the fifth such centre opened in Croatia, with a nominal annual treatment capacity of 30,000 tonnes of mixed municipal waste that will cover almost 140 thousand inhabitants and will become one of the key points of an efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly waste management system in Croatia.The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund was one of the implementing authorities of this project from the very beginning, through two functions that complemented each other. The Fund’s Sector for European Union Funds provided expert support to the beneficiary throughout the duration of the project, while the Intermediate Body of the Fund had a controlling role.
From the first drafts to date, more than 80 million euros have been invested in the project. The cost of the second phase is about 45 million euros, for the implementation of which 29 million euros were provided from European funds, with 4.3 million euros additionally co-financed by the Fund from own resources.
Tanja Radić Lakoš, state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition, emphasised that the financial monitoring of the Project lasted through as many as three operational programmes: Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014 - 2020, Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2021 - 2027, and the transfer stations in Karlovac, Ogulin, Slunj and Otočac were financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
On behalf of the Fund, the head of the Sector for EU Funds, Maja Feketić, addressed the audience at the conference, pointing out it was a financially demanding and technically complex project, and that it would have been difficult to implement it without the systematic support of the competent ministry and the Fund.
The prefect of Karlovac County, Martina Furdek Hajdin, emphasised that the solution offered by the centre was the best available through modern technology and guarantees a preserved and clean environment for future generations. She also appealed for individual responsibility and increased awareness of waste separation.
During the trial operation in the period from February to June 2026, all contractually required plant performances were met: MBT lines capacity, quality and quantity of output fractions, availability and reliability of the plant, as well as all legally prescribed conditions: noise, emissions into air and water (environment), stabilised fraction for disposal. The full operation of the Centre is expected in early September 2026.
