At the end of last week, Saubermacher and the city of Tetovo signed the contract for their public-private partnership (PPP) in North Macedonia. The aim is to improve waste management in the entire catchment area of the municipality, including the introduction of modern environmental standards.

16. November 2023

Saubermacher founds PPP in North Macedonia

At the end of last week, Saubermacher and the city of Tetovo signed a public-private partnership (PPP) contract in North Macedonia. The objective of the contract is to improve waste management throughout the local authority’s catchment area, which will include the introduction of modern environmental standards. The partnership will involve the founding of a joint company dedi-cated to the collection of municipal waste. The term of the contract is fifteen years and is due to start in February 2024.

A serious littering problem, overfilled waste containers and problems with ‘reloading’, which is essential for waste collection, have been an issue for the North Macedonian community of Tetovo for many years. ‘Saubermacher Tetovo’, a joint venture with disposal and recycling professional Saubermacher, intends to bring greater cleanliness and hygiene to the local authority’s 90,000 or so residents. The joint venture will see the existing public company ‘JKP Tetovo’ restructured, with some employees being transferred to the newly founded company. At the heart of the partnership will be the introduction of a regular waste collection service, e.g. for residual waste and packaging waste, as well as awareness raising and education, for both residents and companies, on the importance of proper waste disposal. ‘This partnership with Tetovo is an important step for us. We take our responsibility for the further development of waste management in the region very seriously and will ensure that our contribution is well received by partners and citizens,’ said Hans Roth, founder of Saubermacher, of the cooperation. The joint venture with Tetovo is the second largest PPP in the Saubermacher Group after Servus, the joint venture with the city of Graz.

Photo (from left to right): Biljana Edelinska/WKO Skopje, Daut Memishi/Municipality of Tetovo, Besar Durmishi/Chairman of Tetovo Municipality Council, Bilall Kasami/Mayor of Tetovo Municipality, Andreas Opelt/Saubermacher, Martin Pammer/Austrian Ambassador, Rudolf Horvat/Saubermacher, Robert Čajić/Slovenia, Photo credits: Tetovo local authority

Saubermacher has had operations in Eastern Europe since the early 1990s and has contributed significantly to the further development of waste management in the region. The environmental pioneer is now expanding to North Macedonia, and in so doing, utilising the already tried-and-tested public-private partnership model. The targeted transfer of expertise, along with investments, will help to drive forward waste and recycling management and improve satisfaction amongst local residents. The contract for the twentieth PPP was signed in Tetovo last Friday, in the presence of the Austrian Ambassador, Martin Pammer and representative for the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Ms Biljana Edelinska.