13.10.2025.
The award of contracts for projects approved under the Call for investment in efficient use of resources and support to the transition to a circular economy and the Call for direct co-financing of purchase of municipal vehicles using alternative fuels and the removal of waste dumped into the environment was held today in Zagreb. The contracts were handed over by the minister of environment and green transition Marija Vučković, director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund Luka Balen, and state secretary Tanja Radić Lakoš, together with the director of the Directorate for EU Projects, European and International Cooperation Anamarija Šopron Bognar and the Director of the Directorate for Environmental Impact Assessment and Sustainable Waste Management Anamarija Matak."Today, we are awarding more than a hundred contracts, most of which ,in terms of value, refer to the call financed from the National Resilience and Recovery Plan, which supports projects for the recycling of construction waste, plastics and biowaste," said minister Vučković. Within the framework of the foregoing Call for investment in resource efficiency and support to the transition to a circular economy, 67 contracts were awarded worth in total more than EUR 43 million. This includes 4 projects for the recycling of waste plastics in the amount of EUR 2.2 million, 8 projects for the recycling of biowaste in the amount of EUR 3.6 million, and 55 projects for the recycling of construction waste in the amount of EUR 37.3 million. "Circular economy requires a complete shift in the approach, from production to reuse and recovery. It is not easy, but every investment in the environment means an investment in the future," concluded minister Vučković.
Under the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020, 35 projects were co-financed so far with €22 million in grants to increase the capacity for the treatment of construction waste and biowaste, and under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026, the construction of two composting plants and one biogas plant has been co-financed with a total of €20.71 million in grants.
The director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, Luka Balen, pointed out that the organisation of the waste management system implies a transition from the traditional "take - use - throw away" model to a model that respects resources, reduces waste and gives new life to what we have thus far considered waste. "In addition to these EU-funded projects, the Fund, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition, has provided to cities, municipalities and public institutions in protected nature areas 1.4 million euros for the remediation of 22 so-called dumpsites, and we are co-financing the procurement of alternative fuel vehicles to utility companies, for which today we’ll present 17 contracts worth in total one million euros. These two public calls of the Fund are open until the end of the year, so I invite other local self-government units, if they have e need for co-financing of such projects, to submit their requests to the Fund," concluded Balen.
Through the Public Call for direct co-financing of procurement of utility vehicles using alternative fuels, for the implementation of which funds were provided by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, 17 contracts worth more than one million euros were awarded for investments worth 2.51 million euros. Vehicles powered by electricity and hydrogen are intended for the separate collection of various types of waste, from waste paper, cardboard, biowaste, metal, plastic, textiles, to glass and large (bulky) municipal waste at the place of waste generation at the service user's site. In accordance with the goals of EU and national policies, as well as the development of technology and the availability of energy from renewable sources, the procurement of models of utility vehicles on alternative fuels is a step towards performing utility activities with reduced CO2 emissions.
Within the Public Call for direct co-financing of the removal of waste discarded in the environment published by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, 22 contracts worth over EUR 1.4 million were awarded.
