Current
Projects
Kratovo,
Macedonia (Continued)
Kratovo, Macedonia, a city of approximately 10,000 people, has suffered economic and environmental problems since Macedonia declared independence in 1991. This city suffers from unemployment of over half of its citizens and lacks a reliable system to manage its solid waste. As a result, solid waste is routinely disposed of in or alongside the city's Tavacka River, around town creating wild dump sites, or in an ill maintained, unsanitary landfill. This raises serious concerns over the health and environmental impacts on the community.
This project, adopted by EWB-UF in December 2005 in collaboration with EWB-USA, EPA, USAID, and the Peace Corps, addresses the solid waste problem in Kratovo. The team consists of students and mentors including Dr. Timothy Townsend, professor of solid waste management at the University of Florida.
The team completed two assessment trips in 2006 where they identified and evaluated the solid waste issue in Kratovo. Accordingly, the team initiated the design of a management plan. Since a waste stream analysis - completed on an assessment trip - revealed that the majority of the waste consisted of organics and PET plastics, the initial objectives were education, composting, and recycling.
Prior to tackling complex problems faced in Kratovo like their unsanitary landfill, their lack of wastewater treatment, etc, the team needed to address to the roots of the problems as well as earn the community's trust. That is, in order to enhance necessary collaborative efforts, it was vital for the team to prove that its interest in helping Kratovians is not fleeting.
From January 2007 through May 2007, the team designed an easily implementable PET collection and recycling system, which included designing recycling bins and, via detailed GIS data gathered, determining six optimal locations for the bins. The team worked with Raghu, a Peace Corps Representative in Kratovo, and Stojan, the head of a local and well respected NGO, who would be responsible for maintaining the system.
In August 2007, two undergraduate students and a mentor traveled to Macedonia, where they:
- met with the mayor of Kratovo, employees of the municipality, Raghu, and Stojan to finalize details of the recycling initiative and make final decisions on the optimal locations for the bins.
- provided the bin specifications to the local metal worker, who constructed, painted, labeled and delivered the six bins.
- distributed the educational pamphlets detailing the importance of a healthy environment and how composting and recycling would assist.
- met with the mayor about the town's plans for the landfill and wastewater treatment, so to plan accordingly for future projects.
- met with Sokol Klincarov of the Ministry of Environment and Planning, as well as professors at the University of Skopje and professional engineers part of Engineers Without Borders Macedonia.
The PET recycling initiative has been successful to point that Stojan's employee's at Sunny Hills NGO empty all six bins every two to three days. The NGO is responsible for the bins which mean they collect the plastic from the bins, sort and remove the caps from the bottles, and finally bail the plastic. Stojan calls his contact at the recycling center in Veles, a neighboring town, when they have accumulated a sufficiently large load of bailed PET. The profits raised from the plastic will go towards purchasing more recycling bins for Kratovo and neighboring towns.
For the 2007-2008 school year the team has been working on two projects:
- the first is to modify the current landfill for stability and sustainability and
- the second project is to develop an anaerobic digester to treat wastewater as well as organic wastes.
Landfill: The landfill in Kratovo is merely an open dump on the side of a cliff with many potential safety issues surrounding the dump such as slope instability, fires, vectors, etc. While in Macedonia, the team spoke with the mayor of Kratovo about what his hopes were for the landfill and the measures the municipality has taken. The team also met with went to the capitol and met with the Ministry of Environment and Planning to discuss the regional landfill system they designed. Since the regional landfill system will not be in place for at least 10 more years, it is the team's goal to engineer solutions that will decrease environmental hazards, while increasing public safety and use.
Anaerobic digestion: Currently, all the wastewater in Kratovo is discharged untreated into the Tavacka River that runs through Kratovo. The team spoke with the mayor who explained they intend are constructing a wastewater treatment facility at some point, but it will be years before it is designed and implemented. Since action needs to be taken sooner, the team is designing an anaerobic digester that will serve as an initial form of wastewater treatment.
Ideally, the two projects combined will stem the waste stream to the landfill and provide a safe, controlled site for disposal.
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Kratovo and promote tourism through a modernization of their current solid waste management system.
Downloads
If you have any questions or comments in Macedonian (македонски),
please email Joze Jovanovski.
DOWNLOAD KRATOVO INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN DOCUMENTS
Kratovo,
Republic of Macedonia - Integrated Solid Waste Management
Plan
Кратово, Република Македонија - Интегриран План за Управување со Цврст Отпад
Appendix
A - PET Bottle Recycling (English only)
Appendix B -
Biogas Digestion (English only)
Appendix C -
Medical Waste Incineration (English only)
Appendix D -
Business Waste Audits (English only)
Appendix E -
Design of Recycling Collection Bins (English only)
Appendix F -
Structural Design of Recycling Center (English only)
Appendix G -
Design of Leachate Collection System (English only)
Appendix H -
Waste Collection Optimization (English only)
The Appendices are being gathered and will be put on this site as soon
as they are available...this is as of July 26, 2007 at 3:00 pm EDS.
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Mentors
Paul Indeglia
Rebecca Kelner
Mark Roberts
John Schert
Diana Smillova
Tim Townsend
Student
Team
Kelly Hodoval (lead student)
Tanner Bailey
Jessica Fisch
Marie Fortier
David Johnson
Vanessa Pineda
Chris Rokicki
Pictures of Kratovo:
The main street in Kratovo, Macedonia
The main street in Kratovo, Macedonia
One of the bridges in Kratovo near the town center
Example of the narrow streets in Kratovo which make trash collection difficult
Houses in Kratovo
The school in Kratovo from afar
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