Biznis i finansije Magazine: Large Share of Serbia’s Glass Waste Ends Up in Landfills

Vinca landfill (Photo: Print Scren YouTube)

The European Union (EU) produces 37.5 million metric tons of various types of glass annually, primarily flat and container glass, worth EUR 75 billion, but most of the glass waste is recycled, whereas in Serbia it ends up in landfills, Biznis i finansije magazine reported on July 20.

The EU strengthens its supply by importing another 18 million metric tons of glass materials and hollow glass products, worth around EUR 30 billion, with Germany, France and Italy accounting for 40 percent of those imports. Of that amount, 37 kilograms per person, or around 16 million metric tons a year, primarily container glass such as jars, bottles and other vessels, ends up as waste. Most of it is recycled, although the rate varies by country, reaching as much as 112 percent in Portugal and only 23 percent in Greece.

There are no precise data on the glass market in Serbia. It is estimated that, in addition to hollow-glass production in Paracin, around 30 companies operate in the sector, producing facade and construction glass, glass wool and similar products. This should be supplemented by another 140,000 metric tons imported primarily from Croatia, China, Austria and Bulgaria. Container glass accounts for one-third of those imports, the total value of which exceeds EUR 300 million.

It is also estimated that Serbia generates around 51 kilograms of glass waste per capita annually, or more than 280 million metric tons in total, while around 40 percent is recycled. “A significant share of waste glass in Serbia, both container and flat glass, is neither sorted nor recycled, but ends up in landfills. Even when it is collected in cities that have established a separate waste-collection system, it is removed from designated containers as cullet and transported to Bulgaria, where it is further separated into different granule sizes and sold to glass manufacturers,” Hristina Mikic, director of the Creative Glass Serbia initiative and founder of the Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship, told Biznis i finansije.