Prilep gets a collection point for old textiles and electronic waste and expands its cooperation with Sweden: where are the numbers?

Prilep Mayor Dejan Prodanoski took Swedish Ambassador Ola Sohlström, Deputy Environment Minister Ane Laškoska and a representative of the Swedish association of municipalities SALAR to two places: the waste sorting facility and the new collection point for textile and electronic waste. Then - the Treskavec monastery and the Tobacco Museum.

The message from the meeting is that cooperation with Sweden is expanding. According to the mayor, the partnership so far is already improving Prilep's system for sorting, collecting and treating waste, and the support covers infrastructure, strengthening public utility companies and modernising vehicles and equipment. New money from international funds and new projects were also discussed.

"These are steps with which we are building more efficient municipal services and higher standards of environmental protection," Prodanoski said, adding that the ambition is for Prilep to be an example for other municipalities too.

A collection point for old clothes and electronics is something concrete - something a resident can use tomorrow. But the press release, published almost word for word on several sites, contains not a single number: how many tonnes are sorted, how much waste ends up in landfill, how much money Sweden has given and what the new vehicle fleet costs. Without those numbers, "an example for other municipalities" is a promise, not a result.

Sweden is known for advanced waste management, so its experience is worth having. The question is whether Prilep will measure progress publicly - or whether we'll hear about it at the next protocol visit.