Tyres, plastic, textiles and wet wipes. That is what crews from the public utility "Water Supply and Sewerage" pulled out of the sewage and stormwater drains on Hadzhi Jovan Shishkov Street in Shuto Orizari. The full clean-out needed a pressurised vacuum tanker, and the manholes and drains had to be cleared by hand.

"The sewer is not a place for waste. Every day we deal with blockages caused by wet wipes, textiles, plastic, tyres and other solid waste that should never end up in the sewer network. Behind every intervention there are people, machinery, time and money," said the utility's director, Ivan Mitrovski.

915 cubic metres in a single week

The sewers are only one side of it. Over the past week, crews from the public enterprise "Komunalna Higiena" removed 915 cubic metres of illegally dumped waste from public spaces and roads across all of Skopje's municipalities. The biggest share, 185 cubic metres, came from Centar. The eco-patrol wrote up 15 reports against individuals and companies caught breaking the Public Cleanliness Law, most of them in Chair.

Fifteen reports against 915 cubic metres. That is the ratio between the people who got caught and the rubbish someone dumped without anyone watching.

In Chento, on Juzhnomoravski Brigadi Street, residents complain that trucks unload waste and sewage right behind their houses and yards, and when heavy rain comes, the water from the dump runs into their gardens. The Gazi Baba municipality says its inspectors identified the truck as belonging to a private individual, R.J. from Skopje, who has been fined and ordered to remove the rubbish. If he doesn't, another fine follows, and the municipal utility "Gazi Baba" will clear the waste - at his expense.

Bulky waste, old furniture and electronic appliances can be dropped off free of charge at the Waste Sorting Centre in Karposh, every day from 7am to 7pm, and "Komunalna Higiena" will also collect it from your home for a fee, by calling 0800 222 33 or 3216644. The free option exists. The question is why so many people still pick the forest, the canal or somebody else's backyard.