The story of Prelog

Within just 5 years, the city of Prelog in northern Croatia has tripled the percentage of its separately collected waste. The city has reduced the amount of the mixed waste local residents produce to below 100 kg per capita, becoming a zero waste best practice in Croatia and beyond.

How did this happen, in spite of much criticism saying the set goals were unattainable and ‘utopian’ for the Croatian context?

• Door-to-door separate waste collection
• Construction of new local waste management infrastructures
• Create a fair but profitable system
• Effective education & communication programmes for citizens
• Strong cooperation between the NGO Zelena akcija / Friends of the Earth Croatia / Zero Waste Croatia, the city of Prelog, and 11 other neighbouring municipalities (of different political affiliations) operated by the public company PRE-KOM from Prelog.

The story of Prelog and their waste management company PRE-KOM showcases the diversity of zero waste. When done successfully – through background research, effective communication and education programmes for citizens, the building of proper infrastructure and flexibility within the system to adapt and improve, zero waste is a strategy that can be successfully implemented in a wide range of contexts seen across Europe.