07 November 2019 07.11.2019 - In Kosovo, there exists a considerable amount of hazardous waste deposited in inappropriate places and posing a risk to the environment. The Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, based on data collected from various relevant institutions and from monitoring visits in the field, has made an assessment of the current state of this waste. This report is the first of its kind published in Kosovo, focusing on the status of hazardous waste and mainly including data on industrial hazardous waste. The majority of this waste has remained as a result of industrial processes from the past, where many factories and industrial facilities were destroyed and demolished, thus leaving a lot of hazardous chemicals as waste.
Among other things, the report provides summarized information on the quantity and location of hazardous waste, the chemical composition of this waste, data on its origin, the volume of hazardous waste, how it is managed, the risk it poses to the environment and health, its current status, measures taken so far to reduce the risk, the relevant legislation regulating this sector, as well as the need to develop a plan for dealing with it in the future.
The report also highlights the fact that despite continuous monitoring and keeping industrial hazardous waste under control by the Inspectorate of MMPH, KFOR, and FSK, they still pose a risk to the environment and the ecosystem as a whole until their final disposal is carried out.
The report also concludes that despite many studies by monitoring and competent institutions and despite this basic assessment, it is necessary to conduct a more detailed investigation into the composition and type of these hazardous wastes, the level of environmental hazard, as well as the potential impact on health, water, soil, or air.
For more information, see the report
Industrial hazardous waste in Kosovo