Waste management is one of the main sources of environment-related issues in the Western Balkans vis-a-vis pollution, soil and water contamination, and enormous loss of valuable materials (Balkan Forum, 2021). The latest data point to waste collection services reaching about 81% of WB inhabitants, and up to 92% of waste collected is disposed in non-sanitary landfills (Balkan Forum, 2021). Landfills, in most cases, do not fulfil basic standards such as hygienic sanitary buffer areas, restricted accessibility to humans and biodiversity, control over leakages and emissions etc. Incineration is also a common practice, e.g., in Albania, which completely bypasses the reduce-reuse-recycle and recovery principles. While important steps have been undertaken, the waste management sector and service provision present wide room for improvement and exploration. In particular, that would be the case of the economic and embodied energy values associated with several waste streams. The transition from waste streams to energy has been recently explored under the regional project “Waste to Energy for Western Balkans Cement Industry”, including Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. In this realm, Montenegro represents an interesting case study for the topic. It adds a missing piece to the regional potential for alternative fuels’ production (marketing and use) as an opportunity towards just green transition and SDGs.

Montenegro is a relatively small country in the WB, counting an average of 619,211 inhabitants (following a declining trend over the last three years) and increasing tourist flows. From an administrative point of view, Montenegro is divided into 24 municipalities and three regions. The waste management sector is regulated by law “On waste management” (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 064/11 from 29.12.2011, 039/16 from 29.06.2016), which attempts to transpose the EU legislation on the topic. While foreseen to be revised and ensure harmonisation of the Montenegrin legislative framework with EU legislation in 2021, the draft law has been broadly discussed and contrasted by stakeholder groups and is not yet approved. At the national level, the State Waste Management Plan (Official Gazette of Montenegro, no 74/15 from 23.12.2015.) defines the system, objectives, measures, and activities to be implemented. The Action Plan for the implementation of the State Waste Management Plan comprises measures and activities aligned to the legislative framework in place and obligations of the country in the process of EU integration and, in particular, includes:

• improvement of the existing legislative and legal system at the national and local levels;
• establishing a planning framework at the local level;
• improvement of the waste management system;
• introduction of the separate waste collection;
• provision of technical support in terms of consultations and preparation of necessary studies and technical documentation;
• provision of technical support in building the necessary infrastructure.

At the local level, municipalities are responsible for the waste management service provision (organising, planning and implementing the service) and have waste management plans for the communal and non-hazardous waste covering the territory under administration. The data for 2021 show that about 1.5 million tons of waste are generated in Montenegro (+12.4% compared to 2020), out of which municipal waste amounted to 325,707 tons and a population coverage rate with the service at 87.6% for 2021. While a small fraction of waste is recycled (less than 2% of municipal waste for 2021), large quantities are disposed of through landfilling in the sanitary landfills (about 88% in 2021) placed in Podgorica and Bar. The sanitary landfill of “Livade” located in Podgorica amasses waste disposed of by the municipalities of Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Plužine, Cetinje, and Šavnik. The sanitary landfill of “Možura” in Bar disposes waste from the municipalities of Bar, Ulcinj, Budva, Tivat and Kotor. While several documents at the national and local levels have been prepared, discussed and approved in the waste management field, the implementation phase lags behind vis-à-vis aim and objectives. 

Considering the aspirations of WB countries, Montenegro in particular, to join the EU and adopt EU standards for an environmentally friendly, economically viable and hygienically safe collection and disposal of municipal waste is of high priority. In addition, the Waste Framework Directive suggests that waste treatment plants such as landfills should minimize the amount of refused waste being landfilled nearly to zero by 2050. With decarbonisation targets linked mainly with industries applying IED Directive, the demand for alternative fuels with a minor carbon footprint has risen. Among different alternative fuels, this research will explore the potential of RDF – Refused Derived Fuel from Urban Waste and SRF-Solid Recovered Fuel from industrial waste that could be produced, marketed and co-processed in the Montenegrin case. At the same time, the research project will provide indications related to technical, economic and environmental aspects (costs and benefits) through a pilot scheme of waste being recovered and not landfilled in the Podgorica Region (targeted research area).

The proposed approach towards alternative fuels production (using streams of waste that have calorific embodied energy) presents multiple benefits such as: (i) reducing the quantity of waste deposited in landfills increasing environmental benefits; (ii) increasing the use of RDF/SRF in industry lowering their dependence of fossil fuels which at the same time would contribute to enhancing competitively of local businesses in international markets (due to lower production costs for energy); (iii) reduce carbon footprint through the use of alternative fuels.

The proposed research will contribute to foster for an adequate and complete implementation of EU Directives on waste management at a national level, more specifically concerning 2008/98EC, 2000/76/EC, 2010/75EU and 2009/28EC. In addition, the topic covered in the research proposal addresses SDGs 7, 11 and 17. In particular:

• SDG 7 “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” as the proposed research explores the use of alternative energy sources for industrial production;
• SDG 11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” as the proposed research explores sustainable solutions for waste management at the local level;
• SDG 17, “Global partnership for sustainable development”, as the explored topic, envisages a multi-stakeholder collaboration at national, local and private levels.