Ljubljana, Slovenia

GENERAL DATA

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL SYSTEM

Legislation & targets

EPR system

The collection of separate fractions (paper and cardboard, lightweight packaging and glass) was introduced in 2004 with collection points around the city, consisting of three colour-coded 1100l containers: yellow for lightweight packaging (plastics, metals and drink cartons), blue for paper and cardboard, green for glass. The bring points in the city consist either of usual containers of 1100l (emptied every two weeks or more frequently if necessary) or underground containers with a capacity of 5000l (emptied regularly depending on the population density from daily to weekly).

Underground collection units are used in the centre of Ljubljana to replace common waste bins and thus unburden public areas and make the city look nicer. Glass, packaging and paper can be deposited in underground collection units by anybody, while a special access card is needed to deposit residual and bio-waste. Such card is issued free of charge to all residents and households in the vicinity of the collection units. The use of the card records the waste input and determines the level of the monthly waste bill. There are currently 56 collection units and 30 more are planned. The aim is to ensure that the maximum distance of any user from the unit is 150 metres.

Today separate collection of recyclables is also possible door-to-door (household bins for packaging and, from 2013, also for paper and cardboard).

There are two recycling yards where different types of waste from residents is accepted, including paper and cardboard packaging (with no limitations).

Service to the citizens:litres/inhabitants

By using specialised software, Snaga designed optimised waste collection route and was able to reduce the frequency of waste collection as a measure to encourage people to separate waste at source and to reduce waste management costs for households. The time necessary to collect waste from the same number of users was reduced by 10% and the route length was shortened by 17% – this resulted in lowering the monthly cost per household to an average of 8€ (in 2015). The costs for households in Ljubljana are among lowest in Slovenia – average yearly cost across the country is 150€/household per year compared to less than 100€/household per year in Ljubljana.

Changes in the relevant local legislation were also needed in order to enable the implementation of the new PAYT system. In cooperation with the City of Ljubljana, necessary changes were introduced including: Snaga issues monthly invoice for 10 different services including residual waste collection fees which incorporate among others for the separate collection relevant fees for:
–    separate door-to-door collection of packaging waste; (the processing of collected waste is covered by EPR fees);
–    separate door-to-door collection of bio-waste (indicated separately on the monthly invoice but included in the total of 8€);
–    waste disposal in recycling yards.
Separate waste collection pays off since waste treatment costs for separately collected waste are lower.
At the end of 2014 due to the increased share of separately collected waste and consequently smaller share of landfilled waste, Snaga was able to issue a credit note to all of its users equivalent to the December invoice. At the end of December 2015, the payment of the December’s invoice was further reduced by 60%.
The same system described above holds also for small businesses.

The total cost for waste collection and sorting was €12,995,338 in 2015, while the system generated revenues of
€11,109,286.57 In 2015, the system therefore covered 85.49 % of the costs.

Citizens in Ljubljana seem to be overall very satisfied with the waste management services provided by the public company Snaga¹.  Especially appreciated are the reliability and high quality of the services, but also other aspects of the services are valued (effectiveness, practicality, good service for money, transparency).

There is universal agreement among respondents in terms of being well informed about how to sort their general waste. They usually find information on how to sort their waste on the website of Snaga, on the containers themselves and through leaflets distributed to their mailbox. However some concerns have been expressed with regards to sorting of paper and cardboard specifically (2 respondents state being rather poorly informed on this issue). 7 respondents know that there is specific information on paper and cardboard available whereas 10 do not know whether such specific information exists. All respondents state they either always sort their waste or sort it very often.
The majority of respondents state they know how to sort their waste and have the means to do so (enough time and space at home, access to convenient collection system). However, 2 respondents find the space at their home rather limited for this purpose.

• The blocked access to the bins for door-to-door collection is caused either because of parked cars or (from the point of view of the collector) or because the user does not prepare properly the bin for emptying.
•  Theft of paper and cardboard from containers causes material damage (breaking in the containers often damages the locking mechanism and destroys the bin) and financial loss (for Snaga and ultimately the users).
• Citizens are mainly dissatisfied with the openings of the underground containers for separate collection. In their opinion the shape is too small and not adapted for throwing in paper and cardboard material.