1. A vision for the Bulgarian waste sector National Waste Work Shop Plovdiv, 24 November 2008 Carsten Rasmussen Deputy Head of Unit European Commission DG Regional Policy Carsten.Rasmussen@ec.europa.eu

2. Content Requirements to a functional waste sector Caracteristics of EU waste systems Waste techniques  Incineration  Mechanical Biological Treatment  Refuse Derived Fuel  Landfilling State of play of the Bulgarian waste sector  Techniques  Waste organisation  Financing Conclusions and recommendations

3. Conformity with the acquis Sustainability Financial viability Timely implementability

4. Waste Techniques Choice of technique depends on financing and availability of potential land fill site Cost trend: Incineration Most costly  Costs Incineration Landfill and MBT Landfill

5. Caracteristics of EU Waste Systems  Waste reduction needed, preferably upstream  Variety of techniques available for waste treatment  Incineration  Mechanical Biological Treatment  Refuse Direved Fuel  Land filling  Systems partly revenue generating  Tariff financed (in Bulgaria: tax like)

6. Techniques: Incineration  Incineration most expensive, but attractive in densely populated areas  Energy recovery, yes, but high costs for environmental compatibility  Negative incentives to waste reduction

7. Techniques: Mechanical Biological Treatment  Attractive, as it allows to increase recycling and reduce land filling  But attention to workers’ health  Expensive, but modulable: Does everybody need a Rolls Royce?

8. Techniques: Refuse Derived Fuel  Attractive to avoid land filling  Linked to MBT  But expensive and dependant on incineration capacity (cement factories etc)

9. Waste techniques Landfilling  Least expensive  Limited investments up front  Should be combined with some form of MBT

10. Bulgaria: State of Play  Conformity required as from accession  Waste regions  7 conform  7 en route  7 to be prepared  Beyond Sofia, large part of the country de facto facing infringement procedure  Financing available: 363 million €, plus national co-financing

11. Bulgaria:Waste Organisation  Waste is municipal competence  Economies of scale available, hence trend towards multi- municipal co-operation  Need to avoid the Hungarian Cheese

12. The Hungarian Cheese

13. Bulgaria: Waste Organisation (continued)  Based on our experience, we recommend a minimum of top down incentives:  Legal obligation to co-operate  Or, financial incentive, e.g. financing exclusively available to regional projects  For regional systems, need for sound cooperation organisation  E.g. holding company, owning assets  Need to protect co-operation structure from break up  financial commitment from municipalities to common organisation  Need to careful organisation of operations – private operators, public operating company  Great potential (and some risks) linked to Public Private Partnership models

14. Bulgaria: Financing  Need for sustainable system  Hence tariff setting must include operation and replacement  The EU financing is only available once  Don’t come back with new requests in 7 years!  Please note: No EU co-financing ever made in this sector in Slovakia  EU plus state financing not sufficient in this period  Scope for municipal co-financing  EIB and/or EBRD loans could be available

15. Bulgaria: Financing (continued)  Need to consider total financing needs up front  Recommend budgetary allocation to each waste region, depending on needs  7,7,7  Need for fair and transparent model  Note: Article 55 of the regulation cannot serve as a method to establish a fair and transparent national grant system

16. Bulgaria: Financing (continued)  Recommend model with some local financing  Co-financing could be modulated according to:  Density (natural economy of scale) and GDP (affordability)

17. Bulgaria Techniques Considering: costs limited funding relatively low density of population Landfills with limited, but upgradable MBT seem the obvious choice

18. Conclusions and recommendations to Bulgaria  Projects elaborated based on regional budget allocations  Financing only available for regional projects  Land fill with source separation, limited but upgradable MBT realistic  EU, State, Municipal (EIB-EBRD loan financed)  Tariffs including operations, replacement (amortisation)