Illegal Landfills

Illegal landfill refers to waste disposed of in violation of the Waste Act. These landfills are caused by the indiscipline of citizens in the way in which they dispose of municipal waste and minor construction waste.

The removal of illegally deposited waste is based on the provisions of Act No. 79/2015 Coll., Section 15, on waste and on amendments and additions to certain acts, as amended.

What is the obligation under this Act?

Any natural person or legal entity may report the placement of waste on real estate property that is in violation of this Act (hereinafter referred to as "illegal placement of waste") to the competent authority of the state administration of waste management or to the municipality in whose territorial district the property is located.

The owner, manager or lessee of the property shall, immediately upon discovering that waste has been illegally placed on his property, notify the authority referred to in paragraph 1 of this fact.

However, the discovery of illegally deposited waste shall be deemed to be a condition arising from the unlawful act of an unknown person.

It is unlawful because the unknown person (the originator) has committed an offence under Section 115(1)(c) of the Waste Act by depositing or leaving the waste in a place other than a place designated by the municipality (Section 13(a)). A fine of up to €1,500 may be imposed for an offence under Section 115 (1)(c) of the Waste Act.

Upon receipt of the notification at the District Office Bratislava (hereinafter referred to as "OÚ Bratislava"), the OÚ BA is obliged to initiate administrative proceedings in the matter. In the event that the illegal disposal of waste has caused damage to the owner of the property exceeding €266, it is deemed to be a criminal offence under Act No. 300/2005 Coll. Criminal Code, namely under Sections 300 to 302 of the Criminal Code.

In such a case, the OÚ BA will not initiate administrative proceedings, but will refer the whole matter to the Police Force.

What if the administrative proceedings fail to trace the "waste originator"?

The OÚ BA will issue a decision on the person who must remove the illegally deposited waste. If it is municipal and minor construction waste, the municipality has this obligation. The responsibility is divided between the capital city and the municipal districts of Bratislava; the redistribution of competences is enshrined in the Statute of Bratislava.

The division of obligation is as follows:

• If the illegally deposited waste is located on real estate owned and directly managed by Bratislava, the waste must be removed by Bratislava.
• If the illegally deposited waste is located on a property owned or managed by the Bratislava borough, or owned by another third party, the obligation to remove it resides with the relevant borough in which the pollution is located.

All this applies provided that the administrative procedure has not succeeded in identifying the originator of the waste.

Types of waste

In Annex 1 of the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 365/2015 Coll. on the registration and reporting obligation which establishes the Catalogue of Waste, the types of waste can be classified into groups, sub-groups and types of waste.

Waste types are identified by a six-digit number. The group “20-Municipal Waste” contains 40 waste types.