According to the report of the Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for waste management in the period 2011-2017. In 2017, a total of 2.15 million tons of waste were generated in Serbia, of which the municipal public utility companies collected 1.80 million tons, or 83.7%.
Recycling is the youngest industry in Serbia and the only one that, according to official data, grew during the global economic crisis. This best illustrates the fact that more than 10,000 people have been employed in the industry in the last three years.
They are completely unprotected, have no rights and spend 12 hours a day picking up garbage, says Osman Balic, president of SKRUG - Roma League and adds that this organization has sent a proposal to change the Law on Waste Management, which requires: To bury waste that can be recycled in landfills, because in landfills across Serbia, material that can be used to bring income and earnings to a large number of unemployed people is permanently buried every day. The Roma League is also trying to find a solution in the draft law on waste, based on the principles of sustainable development and the competencies of local governments, to open the possibility (perhaps the obligations) to find a model of social entrepreneurship, which would have for the purpose of: Employment of social groups who are hard-working), reduction of the amount of permanently buried and recyclable waste, easing of state budget expenditures for the measure of social protection of the material security of the family, cleaner environment.
