The town of Sevlievo in northern Bulgaria could accept some of Sofia's refuse, it emerged on August 26. The mayor of Sevlievo, Yordan Stoikov, has received a letter from Environment Minister Djevdet Chakurov asking that the city accept some of the baled garbage produced by the Bulgarian capital and is yet to reject the request.

Sevlievo has until September 1 to respond to the letter and its mayor has said that the new refuse dump, with a total capacity of one million cu m, could be used to store some, but not all, of the 600 000 tons of baled refuse that Sofia has been temporarily stockpiling in two dumps in Kremikovtzi and Gara Iskur areas, which do not meet the full requirements for such facilities.

Stoikov has said that the Sevlievo municipal council has approved a charge of 20 leva a ton, fees exclued, for the disposal of Sofia rubbish.

The baled refuse stockpiled at temporary sites in Kremikovtzi and Gara Iskur have to be moved by September or else Bulgarian authorities face sanctions from the European Union for breaching waste disposal rules. It is not clear what would happen to the refuse that Sevlievo was unable to accept.

The list of municipalities with new waste depots that could take on some of Sofia's refuse includes Montana, Vratsa, Elin Pelin, Sandanski, Petrich, Gotse Delchev, Troyan, Haskovo, Dospat and Lovech. The list of municipalities that have been asked for assistance is kept under wraps to prevent protests from the local population, but mayors of Plovdiv and Karlovo have already rejected Chakurov's request.

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