Harnessing the AI ​​potentials for coping with solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans

Mancheski, Gjorgji and Nikoloski, Dimitar and Midovska, Marija (2025) Harnessing the AI ​​potentials for coping with solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans. Journal of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (4/2025). ISSN 1799-6848

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Abstract

The Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) face a number of challenges in their socio-economic development including the environmental protection from various types of pollution. Growing amounts of municipal waste and improper waste management lead to unprecedented environmental pollution. Most municipal waste in the Western Balkan region is still sent to landfills, thus exerting a serious negative social and environmental impact. In addition, the proportion of population without provision of communal services for collection of municipal waste is relatively high compared to the EU standards. In November 2020 the Western Balkan countries signed the Declaration entitled the 'Green Agenda for the Western Balkans', adhering to the European Green Deal and its goals for an environmentally neutral and competitive economy (European Commission 2020). It focuses on five key pillars: climate action, clean air, clean water, clean land, and a healthy environment, which are aligned with the ambitions of the European Green Deal (RCC, 2025).

In this context, one of the most urgent problems in the Western Balkan region are the sites polluted with solid waste that are not properly managed (the so-called dumps). Recent assessment of contaminated or potentially contaminated sites shows an absence of comprehensive registries as well as insufficient remedial efforts for their cleaning (Arias-Navaro et al., 2025). This situation can be partly attributed to the lack of capacity of the national/local authorities to deal with this problem including a lack of financial resources and staff, insufficient cross-institutional cooperation and poor enforcement of the waste legislation. In addition, the awareness of the population about the environmental protection is on a relatively low level. The extent of the soil pollution problem in the Western Balkans is rather unknown due to the scarcity of available data and the lack of accurate records on exposure of the local population (Vidojević, 2025). The alarming trends in land degradation call for urgent action in order to restore the environment and to mobilize the local community in coping with the solid waste pollution.

Having in mind the above considerations, the aim of this paper is to convey the results from the project entitled 'Harnessing the AI ​​potentials in coping with solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans' that was implemented in the Municipality of Prilep (North Macedonia) during the period January-June 2025. Its idea is to Foster the AI ​​supported ecoactivism based on advanced IT technologies in order to help mitigate the problem of solid waste pollution outside the settlements. The widespread use of smartphones and mobile applications can help in mobilizing the potential of the local communities in coping with the environmental problems and can create synergies between civil society and local/national authorities. The previous experience shows that solid waste management systems powered by AI and Computer Vision have the potential to build cleaner, greener and more resilient ecosystems (Lakshmi, 2025). The adoption of innovative approaches and increased public participation in managing the solid waste can safeguard public health, preserve natural resources and ensure environmental sustainability (Tiwari and Pallavi, 2025).

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Scientific Fields (Frascati) > Social Sciences > Economics and Business
Divisions:	Faculty of Economics
Depositing User:	Efp Eprints
Date Deposited:	24 Mar 2026 04:40
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2026 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.uklo.edu.mk/id/eprint/11466

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