Only 3% of air-polluting waste oil gets collected in Serbia each year – Big health risk

Up to 3% of waste oil is collected each year in Serbia, but there are no exact data about where the millions of unused liters end up. It is assumed that the majority of this raw material, which can be recycled, is used for heating by certain citizens, it was said yesterday at a public debate about managing waste oils.

It is estimated that Serbia imports around 54,000 tons of base oil each year.

– Large amounts of this oil end up, through semi-legal channels, as energy sources for heating small craft shops, which is a big risk – Sinisa Mitrovic, the head of the Center for Circular Economy at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, told Tanjug.

Waste oil is also sold online and offered through ads as an energy source for home furnaces, but its burning has a substantial negative impact on air quality and people's health.

According to Mitrovic, a network of collectors needs to be formed and storage and processing centers need to be built.

At the moment, the local capacities allow for only 1,500 to 2,000 tons of waste oils to be collected.

Privredna komora Srbije

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

CCIS

Center for Circular Economy

Sinisa Mitrovic

waste oil

base oil

import of base oil

heating energy source

collectors

storage centers

processing centers

collection of waste oil