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SARAJEVO, November 18 (FENA) - The Swedish Government has secured 4.5 million euros as part of a program designed to reduce the health effects of hazardous chemicals, long-degrading organic pollutants in nature.
As explained during today's presentation of the project in Sarajevo, persistent organic pollutants known as POPs are organic compounds resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological and photolytic processes.
Exposure to POPs can lead to serious health problems, including some cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, increased susceptibility to disease, and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems.
In order to contribute to the adequate management of this type of hazardous waste, a five-year project titled "Environmentally friendly management of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the industrial and waste management sectors" has been launched in BiH.
Head of the Cooperation Department at the Swedish Embassy in BiH, Torgny Svenungsson, said that BiH will build the necessary capacities to manage this type of waste, adding that the project addresses a very important environmental issue.
He expressed hope that better capacities would be secured in this five-year period, but also that BiH institutions would fulfill their international obligations, as the issue directly concerns the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which BiH ratified in 2010.
He added that this is of utmost importance because of BiH's aspirations for full membership in the European Union, but it will also contribute to a better life for BiH citizens.
The project will also be implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and Ecology of RS and the FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, Mirko Šarović, stressed that the project is an opportunity to do something practical on the disposal of hazardous waste in Tuzla and from Banja Luka's Incel company and if smart moves are made, BiH has a chance to become a country without hazardous waste landfills.
During the presentation of the program, the participants pointed out that this is waste originating in the chemical industries, which was previously disposed of in facilities now banned by the Stockholm Convention.
There is currently no plant in BiH or in the former Yugoslavia that can destroy this type of waste, which is why it must be exported to countries where there are incinerators for this type of waste.
The focus of the project is to prevent the import, use and discharge of POPs through activities that focus on sustainable pesticide management, transition to environmentally friendly technologies in the plastics industry, working with customs officers, remediation of abandoned industrial sites and adequate management of hazardous waste.
(FENA) S. R.
