February 15 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it decided to refer Croatia back to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to fully comply with a 2019 judgment over continued pollution problems caused by an illegal landfill in Biljane Donje, near Zadar.
“More than three years after the judgment, Croatia has not taken any tangible steps: the abandoned waste creates health and environmental risks,” the Commission said in a press release.
In the judgment, the court had found that Croatia had failed to meet its obligations under the waste framework directive in relation to that landfill site.
Some 140,000 tonnes of production residue of processing of ferromanganese and silicomanganese has been deposited since 2010 directly on this illegal landfill site, less than 50 metres from houses. The court confirmed that the stone aggregate disposed of in Biljane Donje had to be considered as waste, rather than as a by-product. It further found that, being waste, the material had to be managed without endangering human health and without harming the environment.
Moreover, Croatia had to take necessary measures to ensure that the holder of the waste disposed of in Biljane Donje treats the waste itself or has it treated by a trader, an establishment or a company carrying out waste treatment operations or a public or private waste collector. To comply with the court judgment, Croatia is expected to take all the necessary measures so this illegal landfill site is closed and rehabilitated as soon as possible.
This is a second referral to Court which may result in financial penalties for the time elapsed from the first judgment until achieving compliance, it added.