Opening the gathering, Ivana Stojiljkovic, Chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee, said that the proposed amendments and modifications to the Law on Waste Management insist on the full implementation of the existing regulations to set in motion a circular economy which promotes the use of waste as a resource and is a good developmental opportunity. She emphasized the importance of promoting recycling and reducing carbon emissions.

Vladimir Jankovic of UNEKOOP Paracin said that the chief objective of the roundtable is to establish a dialogue among all the relevant factors concerned with environmental protection to examine the problem of waste management from as many possible sides so as to better analyse its possible economic use, introduce principles of sustainable development and strike a balance between economic, social and environmental interests.

In the continuation Nebojsa Redzic of the Environmental Ministry’s Environmental Protection Agency and Prof. Dr Ilija Brceski of the Belgrade University’s Faculty of Chemistry spoke about monitoring the environmental situation in the country, while Dr Ilija Vukadinovic of Kosjeric Environmental Movement spoke about the amendments and modifications to the Law on Waste Management from the aspect of health protection.