According to the latest research by Pakomak, 49 percent of Prilep's residents sort their waste for recycling. That is almost half the city, and it is a figure few municipalities in this country can show.

Prilep mayor Dejan Prodanoski presented it as the result of habit, not of equipment.

"Sorting waste is not only a question of systems and equipment. It starts in every home, in every family, and in the habits we create every day. Our obligation is to provide the conditions for those habits to develop," Prodanoski said.

What has been provided

Prilep households have received an additional 8,318 bins of 120 litres for primary sorting and 126 new containers of 1.1 cubic metres. Nine specialised waste collection vehicles have also been secured, four of which have already been delivered.

The procurement and installation of 52 semi-underground containers at 21 locations is under way, an investment worth over 17 million denars.

As part of the municipal utility company's campaign "Clean is beautiful", another 680 households joined the sorting process in 60 days, and 1,280 bins were delivered to residents.

Why this is a number worth looking at from the side

Waste sorting is one of the few areas where the result cannot be faked with a press conference. Either households throw into two bins, or they do not. Pakomak measures on the ground, and the figure is verifiable at the next measurement.

That is why 49 percent in Prilep tells you more than any announcement of new trucks. The budget buys the equipment; the household supplies the habit, and that is more expensive to build and harder to lose.

Prodanoski acknowledges the other half of the equation too. "Any system makes sense only when citizens accept it and use it," he said.

The other half of Prilep is still out there. And so is the question of why this figure is news rather than the standard - in a country where other municipalities are still explaining their waste situation by a shortage of vehicles.