The removal and disposal of historical and mostly hazardous waste, left behind after the bad privatizations of EI factories from the 2000s, has begun at several locations within the former Electronic Industry. Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski and the Minister of Environmental Protection Irena Vujović visited the location of the EI Metal factory, from where historical waste that threatens to pollute water, soil and air is being removed. Thanks to the help of the state and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, finally, after 20 years, we are removing historical waste from several locations within the Electronic Industry, said Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski. About 450 tons of mostly hazardous waste will be removed. After the bad privatizations of the 2000s, the waste remained and no one cared about it. For years, it has been pointed out by the organizations and the associations that it is a kind of ecological bomb, the state has recognized the problem and the importance of removing such waste, stated Niš Mayor. Now, when everything is cleaned, we can relax, Mayor Sotirovski pointed out. Today, we are cleaning complete locations to zero state, the Minister underlined and stated that the problem of historical waste was present in the whole of Serbia and that the state has faced this problem.
This is not the only project that the Ministry and the City of Niš are working on together, said Minister Vujović and stated that they were working on afforestation, rehabilitation of the old and construction of a new landfill, usage of more environmentally friendly energy sources. She thanked Niš City Mayor for the cooperation and for the fact that Mayor Sotirovski pointed out the problem of hazardous waste in the former EI at the first meeting. The Mayor and the Minister visited the company E – Recycling, where 17,000 tons of hazardous waste are recycled annually and where the transition from a linear to a circular economy is already in use. The state has settled all its arrears from the previous period towards recyclers and is now paying subsidies in the same year, Minister Vujović noted.
