Bulgarian Village Pilots ‘Polluter Pays’ Program Measuring Household Garbage

Jerusalem, 21 May, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Kovachevtsi (BTA) – The smallest municipality in the Pernik region – Kovachevtsi — is among the four municipalities in Bulgaria that are currently implementing a pilot project related to the introduction of the “polluter pays” principle. This was announced to the media by the mayor of Kovachevtsi, Vasil Stanimirov.

He commented that the municipality has its own garbage collection vehicle, equipped with equipment and an electronic system for measuring waste generated by households, through which the quantities are recorded in real-time.

The mayor explained that five hundred bins are currently connected to the system. When the truck arrives at an address, it picks up the containers of the respective household and measures the amount of waste. All of this is automatically recorded in a batch, along with the date and time.

Stanimirov explained that if the new principle for garbage collection comes into force from January 1 next year, the municipality of Kovachevtsi will be ready to work according to the new requirements. The mayor also said that when adopting the budget plan for garbage collection this year, sufficient funds were allocated for the maintenance of the urban area, as well as for the transportation and disposal of the collected waste. The municipality also plans to purchase another garbage collection truck.

The municipal waste fee in Kovechevtsi Municipality has not been increased at the moment, the mayor added.