Bulgaria’s capital is testing door-to-door bio-waste collection

This type of waste has enormous energy potential as it releases biogas that can be used to generate electricity or heat

Last week, authorities in Sofia announced a pilot project for door-to-door collecting of food waste. The project will cover 1,000 homes initially, however, it will also test the viability of a “pay-what-you-use” system for the city’s suburbs.

Additionally, separate collection of food waste can increase the city’s circular economy, by finding ways to convert bio-waste into energy. This type of waste has enormous green energy potential, as the fermentation of food can create biogas that in turn can be converted into electricity or heat.

Two city districts will take part in the project

The pilot project will debut in two city districts – Dragalevtsi and Simeonovo. 500 households in each district will take part in the separate collection and recycling of food and bio-waste. Moreover, the project will employ a system of transparency and measure the food waste for each household. The district of Verdical, located in Bankya, a commuter town of Sofia will also take part in the initiative, although official sources have not said how many households will actually collect food waste separately.

This will be the backbone of a potential large-scale operation that can offer door-to-door services and a pay-what-you-use system, where people who produce more waste will have to pay more to collect it.

The city will launch an additional scheme - the collection of worn and disused car tires. Authorities will set up a depositing system, where people can bring their tires for their final processing and recycling. Car tires are a very persistent and tricky piece of waste, as they produce very durable plastic that takes a long time to decompose and needs to be treated by special processes.

The pilot project was financed through the Operational Programme ‘Environment’, funded through the financial mechanism of the European Economic Area. A key partner of the project is ‘International Development Norway’, part of the  SINTEF Foundation, the largest research institute in Scandinavia.