Waste management in the Bucharest - Ilfov region risks turning into a major public-health crisis in the coming years if authorities continue to delay real solutions, Bucharest Prefect Andrei Nistor warned on Friday.
Nistor noted that the waste generated by nearly four million residents of Bucharest and Ilfov currently ends up in a single location - the Vidra landfill.
"Practically the entire region depends on one deposit. Surprisingly, the reported occupancy rate of the landfill 'drops' from year to year: 82% in 2023, 78% in 2024 and 72% in 2025. At the same time, a waste density of 2 tonnes per cubic metre is being reported, although the maximum for compacted mixed waste is 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre. These contradictions can no longer be ignored. They require an independent topographic measurement to show the real situation on the ground and how long the current system can hold. We can't keep sweeping the problem under the rug," Nistor wrote on Facebook.
The prefect stressed that sector mayor's offices, the Bucharest Municipality, Ilfov authorities and the government must stop shifting responsibility and treat the issue as "a genuine emergency".
"Waste management can no longer be handled through inertia and improvisation," he added.
