Waste treatment plants or incinerator projects have been among the government's largest investments in terms of value in the last six years, but they have had no role in waste treatment even though two of the three facilities have already been built, according to the government, Monitor reported on Friday.

Eurostat data on waste treatment in Europe show that in 2022, 295 kilograms of waste per inhabitant were generated in Albania, but only 13 kilograms per capita, or 4.4% of the total was eliminated by burning in incinerators or open fields.

Incinerators have turned into projects for "burning" public funds. Since 2017, they have received from the state budget about Euro 122 million, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, while millions more are procured day after day to return them to work.

Only in January 2024, the company Integrated Energy BV SPV, responsible for the construction of the Tirana incinerator, was paid by the state treasury with about Euro 2.1 million, of which over 600 thousand were payments of the Municipality of Durrës and Euro 1.5 million from the Municipality of Tirana.

Due to ineffective and corrupt investments, Tirana 6Municipality's waste management costs in 2024 are more than double compared to 2017, before the incinerator project started, according to official data from the 2024-2026 mid-term budget of the Municipality of Tirana for the period 2021-2024 and 2017 from the Albania Supreme Audit Institution (ALSAI).

Waste processing costs more to the Municipality of Durrës. This Municipality is a unique case of how it spends more than half of the revenue it collects on just one item, for environmental protection (mainly garbage cleaning).

In 2022, the Municipality's income (from taxes, fees, and separate taxes) was Lek 1.53 billion, with a 3% decrease compared to the previous year, according to data from Co-Plan.

The main cities of the country face simultaneously high costs of waste treatment and are facing an environmental emergency, as the waste generated in Elbasan, Durrës, Kavajë, Vorë, and Tirana is accumulating in landfills near incinerators that do not work.

The treatment of waste in Albania continues to be a "hot potato" in the hands of the government, as the country is experiencing a tourist boom. Meanwhile, garbage dumps are everywhere in the country.