Waste management centres (WMCs) are one of key elements in establishing an integrated waste management system.
The content of waste management centres, waste treatment technology, scope, distribution, transfer stations, flow of all types of waste in the county/region and potential impact on people and the environment are defined in the waste management plans and feasibility studies.
Waste management centres are installations with several functionally and/or technologically interconnected facilities and plants for the treatment of municipal waste, where the quantity of unusable waste remaining at the end of the treatment process is reduced to a minimum of inert waste that is suitable for landfilling.
The infrastructure of a WMC usually comprises the mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant, administrative buildings necessary for the centre’s functioning, the wastewater treatment plant (WWT plant), interior infrastructure, other equipment, residual waste cell, and transfer stations. Transfer stations, which are also part of the project, are places where the waste is accepted and reloaded for the purpose of a more economical transport to the WMC. Transfer stations (TS) are facilities for preparing and reloading the waste intended for transport to WMC where it will be treated and disposed of (or, potentially, temporarily stored), together with large capacity garbage trucks for the transport of waste to greater distances. Transfer stations are, in essence, displaced gateways to the waste management centre through which WMC accepts waste collected at more distant locations from the area it services.
Preparation of project documentation for applying WMC projects for EU co-financing is financed with EU funds and resources from the Fund. Based on the Government’s decision from May 2019 on coordinating the activities related to the construction and equipping of waste management centres, financing the construction and equipment of WMCs is implemented so that the share of financing amounts to: EU + EPEEF = 90%, and the unit of local self-government = 10%.
Out of 11 planned centres in Croatia, two waste management centres have been built and are operational (Mariščina and Kaštijun), two centres are in the process of construction (Bikarac and Biljane Donje), EU financing has been approved for four centres that are in the works contracting process (Babina Gora, Lećevica, Lučino Razdolje and Piškornica), while the remaining three centres are in the phase of preparing documentation to apply for EU co-financing (Orlovnjak, Šagulje and Zagreb).