Circular Waste Management in LUR: Local Policies Inspired by International Practices
At the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR), we held the third meeting of the so-called Think Tank for New Resources, established within the Clear Cities project, where we co-create policy improvement proposals in the field of waste management, with a special focus on reuse.
On Monday, 29 September 2025, we met at the Smetumet creative workshop with representatives of the local Clear Cities (Interreg Europe) partnership of stakeholders JP VOKA SNAGA, Paplab, Mission 100 Cities (City of Ljubljana), Zavod Knof, Smetumet, Patina, and the ETRI group (the network also includes Bolje d.o.o. and Technology Park Ljubljana).
The Think Tank for New Resources first explored knowledge and good practices that RRA LUR, together with ETRI, had learned during a recent study visit to Gothenburg:
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digitalisation of waste collection for a fairer pricing system and optimised logistics to reduce the carbon footprint,
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electrification of a dedicated waste collection truck fleet in cooperation with industry,
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a floating recycling station on the river as an innovative and accessible service for residents,
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the ENVAC vacuum system for cleaner and more efficient urban collection (vacuum technology transports separately collected waste, disposed of through a neat inlet in a building’s hallway or on the street, at 70 km/h through underground pipes to a collection point, from where it is taken to a single removal site in the neighbourhood),
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waste-to-energy conversion at the Renova centre, which stressed the need for greater producer responsibility, as 99.8% of its carbon footprint comes from plastic incineration – a material whose global production has increased 200-fold in the past 50 years,
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use of artificial intelligence in sorting waste at collection centres (a project led by a technical university in Gothenburg).
Already during the presentations, a well-argued discussion began on the possibilities of transferring these good practices to Ljubljana and adapting them to other municipalities in the Ljubljana Urban Region. Later, Jože Gregorič from JP VOKA SNAGA presented the Situational analysis of waste management in the Ljubljana urban region. Building on this, participants jointly defined possible policy improvements, focusing in particular on the renewal of recycling centre systems in LUR in a way that will significantly strengthen circularity and enable greater recovery of waste as new resources.