While the state is putting in the effort to systematically address the lack of sanitary landfills, illegal landfills citizens are creating illegal landfills almost everywhere. Additionally, it is very difficult to identify the perpetrators, since illegal landfills are usually created next to roads, on the river banks and near forests.
According to the data in Novi magazin, in a span of just one year, almost 403 new illegal landfills have appeared, and many are not even covered by the list since new ones keep „popping up“ on a daily basis.
According to the data of the Environmental Protection Agency, 3059 illegal landfills are officially registered in Serbia. Taking into consideration the daily appearance of new illegal landfills, this number cannot be regarded as being constant throghout the year.
Illegal landfills do not only tain the esthetics of the environment, but their impact on the fauna and flora around them is far more dangerous. That effect is more visible if those landfills are created around river banks, where in case of heavy rainfall and rising level of river water, the waste is practically carried into the stream, negatively impacting the river biodiversity and creating an obstacle to the defense against floods. Additionally, citizens often dispose of chemically dangerous waste at illegal landfills.
The „Clean Serbia“ Project plans for the creation of sanitary landfills, but illegal landfills remain the obligation of local governments and supervision of their inspections.