Old tires from tractors and cars, batteries, washing machines and refrigerators have been "decorating" the green areas of Serbia for years, until the situation has been somewhat improved by state incentives for recycling companies. However, the state abolished these incentives on January 1, 2026, so the companies that took over this waste stopped doing it - because it didn't pay for them.
Two and a half months later, the Ministry of Environmental Protection did announce it Public Call for the development of a new Regulation on incentives for companies dealing with waste.
"Vremena" sources said at the beginning of the year that companies dealing with waste processing were directly affected, that they are in a panic and are having crisis meetings, because they do not know how to continue working in the future. Without state aid, they have no interest in doing this business, because they would be in the red. Those who have small businesses in this industry were mostly scared and worried that they would be "trampled" if they said anything publicly.
Thus, the system that directly employs about 15.000 workers, and indirectly another 13.000, who perform work in the public interest, was threatened.
What will the new Regulation bring?
The rules for the allocation of these funds will be defined by a special regulation that will be valid in the period from 2026 to 2028. The regulation regulates in detail what types of activities will be supported, who can apply for funds, how much incentive can be awarded and under what conditions.
According to the proposed regulations, incentives will be awarded to operators engaged in the reuse and recycling of waste. These are companies that manage waste treatment and recycling facilities and that have valid permits in accordance with the regulations in the field of waste management and environmental protection.
From computers to tractors
The regulation also specifies what is considered waste that can be covered by the incentive system. Among them, above all, are waste tires from passenger vehicles, buses, trucks, motorcycles, as well as agricultural and construction machinery. In addition, incentives will be available for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment, which includes devices and their components that have been discarded and are no longer in use.
Used batteries and accumulators have a special place in the incentive system, which after the end of use become hazardous waste and require special treatment and recycling. Incentives will also be available for the treatment of waste vehicles, that is, motor vehicles and their parts that have reached the end of their life cycle and are intended for dismantling and reuse of materials.
A new allocation system - by auction
The new system foresees a special mechanism for awarding incentives through auctions. In this procedure, interested operators will compete with each other by offering the lowest price for waste treatment per unit mass. Based on those offers, certain quotas will be filled, that is, the total amount of waste for which it is possible to receive incentive funds.
Only operators with valid waste management licenses will have the right to participate in this system. At the same time, the regulation foresees certain restrictions. Incentives, except in the case of de minimis aid, cannot be granted to companies in financial difficulties, nor to those who have an obligation to return illegally granted state aid.
Incentives will be intended to finance waste reuse activities, and will be calculated per mass unit - kilogram or ton of waste planned for treatment. These amounts include the operational costs of waste management, including the costs of collection, organization of the collection network and waste sorting.
Companies are failing.
In recent years, companies dealing with recycling in Serbia have been doing drastically worse, writes the Biznis portal.
The activity of reusing sorted materials in Serbia faced a sharp decline in total revenues during 2024, which indicates serious changes in the recycling sector, they add.
According to the available financial data of the rating company CompanyWall, the total revenues of companies operating in this area amounted to 15,29 billion dinars, which represents a drastic drop compared to the previous two years. Namely, in 2023, total revenues amounted to 61,48 billion dinars, while in 2022 they reached as much as 77,12 billion dinars.
This trend shows that in just two years the value of the market has decreased by more than five times. While between 2022 and 2023 there was a drop of about 20 percent, in 2024 there was a much more dramatic drop – more than 75 percent compared to 2023. Such developments suggest that the sector faced strong disturbances, which may be the result of changes in the prices of secondary raw materials, weaker demand in the industry or regulatory changes in the waste and recycling market, adds Biznis.rs.
