A high-level delegation led by H.E. Florence Ferrari, Ambassador of France to Serbia, visited the Vinča Waste Resource Recovery Center yesterday. The facilities, developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) between the City of Belgrade and Beo Čista Energija, stand as one of the most important French companies’ investments in Serbia.
The project is the result of a strategic partnership between the City of Belgrade and Beo Čista Energija, a consortium comprising the French Veolia Group, the Japanese corporation ITOCHU, and the pan-European investment fund Marguerite. Together, they have joined forces to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to one of Belgrade’s most pressing environmental challenges.
During the visit, Ambassador Ferrari toured the state-of-the-art facilities, which utilize advanced technology to transform municipal waste into energy and recover valuable resources.
HE Ambassador Florence Ferrari stated:
“As part of France’s support for Serbia’s ecological transition, it was important for me to visit the Vinča Resource Recovery Center. This visit provided an opportunity to discuss the challenges related to sustainable waste management, from recycling to energy conversion. This is a topic that France is actively following, a French technical expert having been assigned to the Ministry of Environmental Protection to support the necessary reforms.
At its own level, our embassy actively supports Serbia’s efforts through initiatives such as the EkoOpština competition, which has become a key platform for sharing best practices between French and Serbian stakeholders working in the field of sustainable urban development, focusing on topics such as water management, household waste, mobility, and the energy efficiency of buildings, all of which impact the quality of life for residents. The French Development Agency (AFD) is also co-financing the program for regional waste management centers, to the tune of 75 million euros. It is through initiatives like these that I am convinced we can create a more sustainable, greener, and more environmentally friendly future.”
Vladimir Milovanović, Managing Director of Beo Čista Energija, stated:
We have successfully transformed a site that for decades represented one of Belgrade’s most significant environmental challenges into a modern Vinča Waste Resource Recovery Center. Since the Center began operations, more than three million tonnes of waste have been received, while one million tonnes of waste that would previously have ended up in landfill have been used as a resource to generate electricity and heat. The next phase of the project includes the use of collected landfill gas to produce renewable energy, as well as works to stabilize and remediate the old landfill, subject to further decisions by the City of Belgrade.
The Vinča Resource Recovery Center is designed to accept almost all Belgrade’s municipal waste, generating electricity and heat while significantly reducing the volume of waste disposed of at landfills. The project aligns with Serbian and European Union environmental standards and supports Serbia’s broader goals of sustainable development and EU integration.
