The Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov signed a contract for the construction of a regional system for separate collection and recycling of biodegradable waste for the municipalities of Lovech, Letnitsa, and Ugarchin.

The total amount of the investment is 6.14 million BGN. The grant provided by the Environment Programme 2021-2027 (EP) is 3.7 million BGN.

The project envisages the design, construction, and putting into operation of a general indoor composting plant with a capacity of 4 583 t/y, which will be located on the territory of the municipality of Lovech. The facility will process separately collected biodegradable household biowaste from the settlements on the territory of the three municipalities.

The system for separate collection and transportation of biodegradable waste will also include appropriate containers for the separate collection of biodegradable biowaste at the place of its generation and equipment for transporting it to the composting plant.

The project will deliver equipment for the collection and on-site pre-treatment of green biowaste for the settlements. Focus will be placed on raising awareness and changing the behavior of the population for sustainable waste management in the region. Information meetings with citizens in person in the settlements on the territory of the municipalities of Lovech, Letnitsa, and Ugarchin are to be held to familiarize themselves with the benefits of separate collection of biodegradable waste, the methods and requirements for separate waste collection, etc.

The socio-economic benefits of the project aim to provide a new type of service to residents and create new jobs. The environmental benefits of the project are related to ensuring a significant contribution to meeting the post-2023 requirements for mandatory separate collection of biowaste, to achieve the 2030 goals for reducing the amount of landfilled municipal waste, as well as for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The implementation of the project will contribute to reducing significantly the amount of landfilled municipal waste in the municipalities of Lovech, Letnitsa, and Ugarchin and will increase the amount of recycled waste.

The project is implemented under the procedure "Measures for the construction, expansion and/or upgrading of municipal/regional systems for separate collection and recycling of biodegradable waste" of the EP 2021-2027. The planned implementation period for the project activities is 30 months.