A total of 20 trucks with plastic waste detained at the border with Turkey are gradually being returned under strict control by MOEW authorities to their point of dispatch in Poland, Romania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany, and Bulgaria.

On May 21st, the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW)-Stara Zagora received a signal from the Customs Bureau-Lesovo for trucks returned by the Turkish authorities at the “Lesovo” border checkpoint. The trucks were traveling to a processing plant in Turkey.

The vehicles were inspected and allowed by RIEW-Stara Zagora to re-enter the territory of Bulgaria through the “Lesovo” border checkpoint once the inspection established that the accompanying documentation was in order. Completed documents were provided under Annex VII of Regulation (EC) №1013/2006 on shipments of waste with indicated route for return, time, and point through which they will leave the territory of Bulgaria. Before leaving the country, the vehicles are checked by eco-inspectors for the respective documents for waste transportation and the integrity of the seals placed on the trucks.

Thirteen trucks are to return to the country of origin of the waste. Of these, 12 vehicles have already left the country (10 have passed through the “Danube Bridge 1” border checkpoint and 2 have left through the “Kalotina” border checkpoint). One truck is also inspected at the “Danube Bridge Vidin – Calafat” border checkpoint.

The remaining 7 trucks were returned to the point of dispatch in Bulgaria - 3 returned to Shumen, 3 to the village of Krivina, and one to Kremikovtsi.