There is a waste dump or a municipal waste landfill in every municipality. Waste is not selectively disposed according to categories, but mixed together (municipal, industrial and medical waste) and dumped mostly on unregulated landfills. The waste in landfills is often burned, which poses a serious risk to the environment because burning or combustion generates methane due to the anaerobic decomposition process of organic matter in waste. Landfills are a source of many different types of pollutants that are transmitted into the land and further into the water and air.
Solid waste, which most often comes from construction sites, is disposed primarily in natural depressions, caves, sinkholes and valleys, abandoned quarries and gravel pits, and often also along watercourses and even the sea. Industrial waste is also deposited at unregulated landfills, thus causing pollution of soil, water and air, mainly by heavy metals and other types of pollutants.
The 2015-2020 National Waste Management Plan of Montenegro recognized illegal dump sites that are located in Montenegro as a problem that needs to be solved. It is estimated that there are about 37 such locations in the coastal region.
A large number of informal and illegal dumps were identified in the territory of Montenegro. Since the plan includes the establishment of a modern system of waste management, it will be necessary to solve all the existing problems caused by the existence of such facilities. This basically means that it will be necessary to rehabilitate or remove all such dumps, in any of the possible ways:
- Relocation of dumps - if the dumps are very small and located relatively close to a sanitary landfill;
- Partial rehabilitation of a dump - involves isolating the upper layers of the dump where the ground water level is low;
- Full rehabilitation of a dump implies complete insulation of both the upper and lower layers of the landfill where the ground water level is high.
The aim of dumpsite rehabilitation is to prevent introduction of solid and liquid waste into the Adriatic Sea.
The 20142020 Eco-Remediation Strategy for Montenegro, recommended eco-remediation measures.
It is necessary to rehabilitate the existing active and abandoned landfills.
The proposed project is in line with the strategic documents that were adopted by the Government of Montenegro: Republic-Level Solid Waste Strategic Master Plan (hereinafter referred to as the 2005 Master Plan) the 2015-2020 National Waste Management Plan of Montenegro, and the 2014 2020 Ecoremediation Strategy for Montenegro.