Although investments from domestic and international sources have been made in Doboj in recent years to improve waste management, the situation on the ground has remained almost unchanged. Citizens still do not separate their waste, and the local utility company has closed the Waste Separation Center, in which more than a million marks were invested. The containers installed for plastic, paper and glass are now the same as ordinary metal containers, because mixed waste is thrown into them.
Although the containers for selective disposal were purchased thanks to the efforts of domestic companies, institutions and international organizations, the results have not been achieved. Citizens admit that they do not separate their waste because, as they say, it is “not worth it” or because they do not believe that it makes sense when everything ends up in the same place. Stanimir Drljić, who lives in Austria, emphasizes that the system there is precisely regulated and that all waste is strictly separated, while in Doboj everything is thrown together. Jasna Bujaković believes that citizens do not pay attention and that it is easier for them to throw everything into one container. Dario Mikolčić, however, also points to the shortcomings of the utility company, emphasizing that more points for selective disposal and additional containers for bulky waste should be provided.
In the meantime, the Waste Separation Center, opened on the eve of the 2012 local elections, in which the City of Doboj and the utility company invested more than a million marks, has also been closed. Today, that facility is gone. The machines have been replaced, the space has been redirected to more profitable businesses such as metal processing. Zlatko Žakula from Doboj’s “Progres” says that they had to give up because it was not possible to extract economic benefits from mixed waste, and additional investments without budget support were not sustainable.
While sorting machines are now standing outside without a purpose, and instead of them, metal processing devices are now operating indoors, citizens are still being told that they are to blame for the failed system. However, many have nowhere to dispose of their recyclable waste because their settlements lack the necessary infrastructure. Without a serious plan, support, and education, waste management in Doboj remains an unresolved story, in which both money and the environment are the biggest losers, BHRT writes.
