To some it's rubbish, to others it's a nine-figure business. While the rubbish on the streets and at the landfills stays a daily sight, behind the bins sits an industry that turns over more than 120 million euros a year. And as the money grows, recycling stands still - ninety percent of the waste collected in the country still ends up in a landfill, where nature and public health pay a bill that gets booked nowhere.

The sector's figures are striking. Last year, waste-collection and processing companies took in 120.2 million euros in revenue. Turnover was down 3.36 percent on the previous year, but profit rose 7.1 percent to 4.6 million euros. All of it was handled by 168 companies, and the ten highest earners grabbed nearly 59 percent of the whole pie.

The list is led by Skopje's public utility Komunalna Higiena with 23.4 million euros - the biggest player and the provider of the public service in the capital. Right behind it comes Tetovo's Teknometal, which more than doubled its revenue to nearly 12 million euros, while the top ten is dominated by public utility firms - from Kavadarci and Prilep to Ohrid and the Drisla landfill.

There's money, but little recycling

Here's the paradox. The industry is profitable, yet the waste-management system lags behind. Macedonia generates around 791,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year and collects about 637,000. Of what's collected, nearly 90 percent goes straight to landfill - no sorting, no recycling, no return to the economic cycle.

Even where there's progress, we depend on others. Of the glass packaging put on the market, around 45 percent is collected and recycled through the Pakomak system - a figure we can genuinely boast about for a country outside the EU. But there's a catch: almost all the collected glass is shipped to factories in Bulgaria. We collect it, they process it - and the added value goes across the border.

The European warning is already knocking. Brussels recently launched proceedings against Portugal over missed recycling targets, with the prospect of financial penalties. Macedonia isn't a member yet, but the case is a clear signal - with the new targets for 2030 and 2035, an efficient waste system is no longer a choice but a condition of entry.

So the picture is a double one. The waste business is booming, a dozen firms split millions, but the waste itself mostly ends up buried. The question for the citizen who takes out the rubbish every morning is simple: if the industry turns over 120 million, why do we still live surrounded by landfills?