Summary of the audit report Remediation of Old Burdens of Industrial Waste and Unauthorised
Construction Waste Landfills
The Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia carried out a performance audit of operations of the
Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in remediating landfills of old burdens of industrial
waste and unauthorised construction waste landfills in the period from 2004 to 2008. The audit objective was
to express an opinion on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial
Planning in remediating landfills of old burdens of industrial waste and unauthorised construction waste
landfills.
Remediation of landfills of old burdens of industrial waste
In the period from 2004 to 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in remediating
landfills of old burdens of industrial waste wasn't effective, since it failed to achieve the objective defined in
the Resolution on National Environmental Action Plan, which provides for the remediation of landfills of
old burdens of industrial waste (Pesnica, Bohova, Studenci, Globovnik and Metava) by the end of 2008 at
the latest. In the period covered by the audit, out of five sites of old burdens of industrial waste for which
the remediation was provided for, only the remediation of the Pesnica acid sludge landfill was being
implemented while at the Metava landfill there were certain activities under way to regulate the landfill.
In the period from 2004 to 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in remediating
landfills of old burdens of industrial waste wasn't efficient, since it failed to implement activities that would
enable the establishment of complete records on landfills of old burdens of industrial waste as well as
activities with which it would impose on the known polluters the preparation and implementation of a
remediation programme for the remediation of the Pesnica, Bohova and Studenci acid sludge landfills. In
the case of the Globovnik landfill, it did not plan the remediation and neither did it provide funds for its
implementation despite the subsidiary liability of the State.
Despite the known excessive polluters who should finance the remediation of landfills, the Ministry of the
Environment and Spatial Planning assumed liabilities for the remediation of the Pesnica landfill in the
amount of at least EUR 5,091,233 and by the end of 2008 already used EUR 1,978,669 for financing the
implementation of procedures for the remediation of these landfills. By the end of 2008 , it also used EUR
115,850 for the activities of planning the remediation of the Pesnica, Bohova and Studenci acid sludge landfills.
In the field of industrial waste management, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning failed
to establish a system that would prevent the generation of new burdens of industrial waste, since it the
period from 2004 to 2008, 16 out of 23 industrial waste landfills were still not issued appropriate decisions
by the Slovenian Environment Agency, while the validity of decisions for the other seven landfills expired
at the end of 2007 respectively at the end of 2008.
In the period from 2004 to 2008, the Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for the Environment and
Spatial Planning did not exercise control over the Studenci and Bohova pri Mariboru acid sludge landfills,
since the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning did not consider the proposal made for the
preparation of a remediation programme. In the case of the Globovnik landfill, the Inspectorate of the
Republic of Slovenia for the Environment and Spatial Planning did not even make a proposal for the
preparation and implementation of a remediation programme. In the period from 2004 to 2008, the
industrial waste landfills for which there are records established by the Ministry of the Environment and
Spatial Planning were the subject of control only in 2004.
Remediation of unauthorised construction waste landfills
In the period from 2004 to 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in remediating
unauthorised construction waste landfills wasn't effective, since it did not implement the remediation of
unauthorised construction waste landfills for which it was subsidiarily liable. There are no objectives and
activities defined in strategic documents in the field of environmental protection to solve the problem of
unauthorised disposal of construction waste and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning
failed to implement any activities that would lead to the remediation of unauthorised construction waste
landfills.
In the period from 2004 to 2008, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in remediating
unauthorised construction waste landfills wasn't efficient, since it did not plan activities for the remediation
of unauthorised construction waste landfills. It did not establish records on unauthorised construction
waste landfills and did not prepare remediation programmes respectively programmes of measures for the
remediation of unauthorised construction waste landfills. Neither did it provide funds and finance the
remediation of unauthorised construction waste landfills.
The Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning failed to prepare appropriate legal bases
concerning the definition of obligations and responsibilities in managing unauthorised construction waste
landfills (in case of mixed waste, i.e. municipal and construction waste), when subsidiary liability is shared
between the State and municipalities. For the remediation of unauthorised landfills it is necessary,
irrespective of the quantity of unauthorised waste, to draw up a remediation programme respectively
programme of measures. In case of lower quantities of unauthorised waste, this can cause
disproportionally high remediation costs. With the adoption of amendments to the Environment
Protection Act in 2008, the State and municipalities were not relieved of the subsidiary liability for waste
disposed of on private land.
In the field of construction waste management, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning
failed to establish a system that would prevent the emergence of unauthorised construction waste landfills.
Due to non-transparent and uncontrolled reporting of construction waste collectors, processors and
disposers, it is not possible to assess whether the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning by
increasing the number of construction waste processors also increased the quantity of processed
construction waste.
The Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for the Environment and Spatial Planning does not exercise
adequate control in the field of unauthorised disposal of construction waste, since the inspection is
performed only on the basis of applications and not on the basis of annual work plans.
For the established inefficiencies to be eliminated, the Court of Audit demanded from the Ministry of the
Environment and Spatial Planning the implementation of corrective measures within 90 days and provided
several recommendations for the improvement of operations in managing industrial and construction waste.
2
Ljubljana, 24 June 2010
3