Organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, as part of the “Circular Communities” project, a study visit was organized to the company “Brzan Plast” in Batočina, the wastewater treatment plant in Kruševac, as well as the Pirot Regional Landfill and the Pirot Hydroelectric Plant.
The company “Brzan Plast” processes waste raw materials from PET packaging and packaging plastic and has been operating since 2005. One of the priority goals of this company is to prevent the disposal and burning of worn-out foils through organized collection and purchase of plastic foils.
Kruševac is one of the few cities in Serbia with a wastewater treatment plant, which operates as part of the public utility company Vodovod Kruševac. The facility was built primarily to protect the West Morava River and to treat all wastewater in the Kruševac area. The entire sewage system from the territory of Kruševac leads to the plant where wastewater is processed.
By joining the municipalities of Babušnica, Bela Palanka, Dimitrovgrad, and the town of Pirot, a regional system was established with the aim of integral waste management, environmental protection, and the implementation of the concept of sustainable development. The construction of the landfill in Pirot began in December 2008, and it was put into operation in early January 2013. A mini-plant for the treatment of plastic packaging waste and plastics also operates at the Pirot Regional Landfill. Packaging waste and other types of plastic, which are separated in the plant for secondary waste separation, are further processed through a mill and turned into a semi-finished product that is handed over to operators for waste management. The operation of this mini-plant reduces the amount of plastic in the region, and its launch has created new jobs.
The Pirot Hydropower Plant uses the water from Stara Planina, which accumulates in Lake Zavoj. The hydroelectric power plant is adaptable to the daily load diagram, where consumption peaks are short-lived and sharp.
