After residents’ revolt, Tabak Group abandons plan to bring Gospić waste to Zaprešić

Tabak Group has backed away from a plan that would have brought 650 tonnes of non-hazardous waste from Gospić to Zaprešić, after strong opposition from local residents. The company had been due to process the waste at its Zaprešić facility, but now says it no longer intends to do so.

Director Ivan Tabak told N1 journalist Katarina Plantak that the company would ask permission to carry out the remediation at the site itself. “We will ask to be allowed to remediate it on site. If they refuse, then we will withdraw from the contract,” he said. A final decision is expected after a meeting with the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, scheduled for the following day or the day after.

The waste consists of material that Tipos Resurs, owned by Josip Šincek, left in large bags inside a silo in Gospić. Tabak Group was expected to receive almost €450,000, including VAT, for the work. It had also applied to handle an additional 4,500 tonnes scattered across the silo yard, but those bids have not yet been selected.

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We will ask to be allowed to remediate it on site. If they refuse, then we will withdraw from the contract.

The proposal to send part of the Gospić waste to Zaprešić triggered a strong local response. Residents organized through the Zaprešić online Facebook group and warned they could stop trucks carrying the waste. Tabak had said the material would not simply be stored in Zaprešić, but sent to 15 different sites. That explanation did not calm the opposition.

Resident Tamara Carević published an exchange with Tabak in which he said the company had already abandoned deliveries to Zaprešić and would cancel the contract if the fund rejected a revised methodology. Carević stressed that she could not guarantee the accuracy of his claims. During the night, banners appeared at several town entrances and near the Tabak Group plant, saying Gospić waste would not end up in Zaprešić or Petrovaradinska Street.

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Okay. Thank you for the information. We have in any case already abandoned transporting it to Zaprešić. We sent the Fund another methodology. If they do not accept it, we will withdraw from the contract. We prefer Zaprešić to the job.