Dangerous waste to be moved from "Zastava" - 2.5m EUR worth of investment

- Kragujevac-based factory "Zastava" will be cleaned from dangerous and non-dangerous waste within the next 45 days - said Branislav Nedeljković, the Chief of the ecology team for project "Fiat automobili Srbija".

Nedeljković told "Beta" agency that, according to the contract with Italian "Fiat", 2.5m EUR had been set aside for that purpose. He said that, after the cleaning, "Zastava" would be ready for installation for new equipment that met EU's strict environmental standards.

- Relocation of about 2,000 tons of waste paint from the factory, which has represented the largest environmental problem of "Zastava" over the last 20 years, will start on Monday (July 20, 2009) - said Nedeljković.

According to his words, that dangerous waste will be moved out of the country, to Austria, and the job has been entrusted to Belgrade-based company "Miteco". Relocation of waste paint will last for 45 days. Company "Miteco" should also transport six transformers with pyralene oil outside of the country, which will be finished within 15 days.

- Next week, company "Yunirisk" from Belgrade will start relocating 300 tons of wooden cubes that are partially oiled, and the job should be finished in 5 to 10 days - said he.

According to his words, complete elimination of electronic waste from "Zastava" will be finished within next few days. So far, 40 out of total of 60 tons of electronic waste have been sent to recycling.

- We still don't know how to recycle 40 tons of waste glass that were created during the bombing of the factory in 1999 - said Nedeljković. Glass is now in crates and ongoing "characterization" should determine what type of waste it is.

- We expect to receive confirmation that the waste is not dangerous, so the tender for relocation and recycling of that glass can be announced the next week - said Nedeljković.

He announced that "huge and practically incalculable" quantity of metal waste, which had been created after NATO had bombed the factory in Kragujevac, would be moved from the factory. Nedeljković said that metal would be recycled as semi-finished product, and certain quantity of metal structures and machines had already been taken over by Kragujevac-based company "Reomat".

Since the beginning of realization of the contract with "Fiat", 40,000 cubic meters of waste created during NATO bombing have been moved from the Kragujevac-based factory, while 315,000 liters of six-valent chromium and large quantity of oil from the factory machines have been sent to recycling.

The Government of Serbia has entrusted management of the projects for environmental cleaning of "Zastava" and announcement of tenders to MACE agency. The companies that have, so far, been selected to recycle waste are Belgrade-based "Miteco","Yunirisk", "Ezogrupa" and "Ekotank" and "BIS IT" from Pančevo.

Within the scope of the second part of environmental plan from the contract with "Fiat", testing of water and land in the location of factory "Zastava" has been finished. That job worth 2.5m EUR has been done by Swiss company "SGS".

Grupa Zastava vozila

Zastava auto Kragujevac

Zastava automobili a.d. Kragujevac

FCA Srbija Kragujevac

Miteco System d.o.o. Beograd

Yunirisk d.o.o. Beograd

Zastava Reomat d.o.o. Kragujevac

Vlada Republike Srbije

Mace d.o.o. Beograd - u likvidaciji

Ezo grupa d.o.o. Beograd

Ekotank d.o.o. Pančevo

Božić i sinovi d.o.o. Pančevo

SGS doo Beograd

NATO

Branislav Nedeljković