The impact of introducing separate biowaste collection onwaste flows in the town of Sisak, Republic of Croatia, in the period 2021 -2025

This paper examines the effect of introducing separate biowaste collection in the town of Sisak via container systems in the period from 2021 to 2025. Until 2024, biowaste was collected mainly through branch collection campaigns, recycling yards, and partly through home composting, while the majority ended up in mixed municipal waste. In March 2024, the distribution of individual and shared containers was launched, thereby establishing a more systematic collection system. The results indicate a substantial increase in the amount of separately collected biowaste, accompanied by a corresponding reduction in mixed waste. In 2023, 222.8 t of biowaste was collected, while in 2024 this figure increased to 1306.3 t, representing an increase of 486 %. During the same period, mixed municipal waste decreased from 9035.4 t to 7664.7 t (- 15.2 %). Service coverage reached 93.6 % of households and 96.4 % of legal entities. These findings suggest that the introduction of containers has enabled the diversion of a considerable share of biowaste from mixed municipal waste to separate collection, thereby contributing to the achievement of waste management objectives in accordance with the requirements of Directive (EU) 2018/851 and the Waste Management Act.