Building the foundation for sustainable waste management in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The workshop brought together mayors from BiH SuTra partner municipalities Banovici and Kakanj and the city of Živinice, senior municipal officials, and technical staff working with waste management, spatial planning, and environmental protection. Their active participation demonstrated both political ownership and a strong commitment to improving municipal waste management systems.

Strong local ownership and regional cooperation

The workshop was organised in close cooperation with Eko-Sep d.o.o., the regional sanitary landfill serving the city of Živinice and municipalities of Banovići, and Kalesija. These Local Self-Government Units (LSGUs) jointly own Eko-Sep, which has been developed with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Eko-Sep and its owner municipalities and city have played an important role in advancing discussions on waste data and landfill diversion, and their engagement reflects a clear understanding of the link between household waste composition and the performance of regional waste infrastructure. This cooperation underlines the importance of coordinated planning across municipal and city boundaries.

Why waste composition studies matter

Currently, BiH does not have a national methodology for waste composition studies. The lack of standardized methods limits the ability of municipalities and cities to compare results, monitor changes over time, and design effective measures to reduce landfilling.

The objective of this BiH SuTra workshop was therefore to support developing a robust, repeatable, and BiH-adapted methodology for waste composition analysis, with a primary focus on household residual waste. Understanding what is actually disposed of in household waste is a prerequisite for:

• reducing landfill disposal,
• increasing recycling and separate collection,
• designing cost-efficient waste systems, and
• developing realistic waste-prevention strategies.

Participating municipalities and cities in BiH SuTra project have set an ambitious long-term goal of reducing landfilling by up to 90%. Achieving this target requires a data-driven approach. As one workshop participant expressed during the discussions:“Why didn’t we do this 15 years ago?”

From data gaps to data-driven strategies

The work within BiH SuTra is structured into four main steps, with the overall methodology development planned to be finalised by March 2026. The workshop was the first step in a needs assessment and review of local conditions.

During this first phase, discussions focused on:

• what municipalities and cities need waste data for, including planning, investments, tariffs, and reporting,
• what data is currently available and where the main gaps exist,
• available resources and constraints, such as staff, equipment, and budgets,
• sampling strategies and how to ensure representative results, and
• waste fraction definitions adapted to the Bosnian context and existing collection systems.

Special attention was given to ensuring that the methodology will be practical and realistic, while still delivering statistically meaningful results. The discussions also highlighted the importance of adapting international best practice to local conditions, rather than simply copying methods used elsewhere.

International experience, local adaptation

The methodology development is led by Stockholm Environment Institute Senior Expert Tomas Thernström, who has extensive experience in municipal waste management in Sweden and internationally. While the Swedish waste composition methodology provides an important reference, Tomas has also conducted waste analyses in Asia and in mining communities, bringing valuable insights into how waste composition varies in different socio-economic and industrial contexts. This experience is particularly relevant for BiH SuTra municipalities and cities, many of which are in transition from coal-based economies.

Looking ahead: from municipalities to national standards

The long-term ambition is for the developed methodology to be applied consistently across all participating BiH SuTra municipalities and cities, and over time, scaled up to higher level to support regional planning and coordination. In the longer perspective, the methodology could form a foundation for a future national standard for waste composition studies in BiH. Reliable waste composition data will enable municipalities and cities to move from assumptions to evidence-based planning, helping them identify which waste fractions drive landfill volumes and which materials offer the greatest potential for prevention, recycling, or treatment.

The workshop concluded with a shared understanding that measuring waste is not a result in itself, but a powerful tool for change. With strong local self-governments’ backing, engaged technical staff, and close cooperation between municipalities and regional infrastructure operators, BiH SuTra is laying the groundwork for more sustainable, efficient, and circular waste management systems in BiH and these first steps set a strong foundation for the next phases of work ahead.