To avoid last year’s criticism from the European Commission (EC) in its Report for 2021 on North Macedonia’s progress, the state authorities will have to accelerate the procedure of passing the waste management laws. The Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini announced them a month ago, while the Government at its session on the 22nd of December 2020 determined the wording of the six laws related to waste management.

The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning informed Meta.mk that the draft laws submitted to the Government are currently in a phase of making amendments and preparation of the necessary accompanying documentation by the government administration. After this, they will be submitted in shortest possible period to the Parliament.

Last October, Macedonia was criticized by the EC for not adopting the waste management laws.

The newest set of laws for waste management further the obligations of the producers and the collective handlers, as well as the municipalities, for enacting proper necessary waste selection.

The proposed acts allow introduction of financial responsibility for the packaging producers, the producers of batteries and car batteries, electric and electronic waste and completely new lines of waste management of used cars, waste oils, used tires and textile. A ban is planned for the plastic bags, but also ecological designs for the packaging, and possibilities for the introduction of paying deposits and stimulation for returning the packaging.

At the same time, with the new acts, there is a proposal that the responsibility for the whole financial cycle of the waste that has resulted from the production and until the recycling to be at the expense of the producer, while the municipalities and the collective handlers will be responsible for the waste selection, in order to open possibilities for the citizens to select the waste.