Residents Protest Planned Tire Plant Near Homes in Žabalj, Serbia

Residents of Žabalj, Serbia, gathered for a protest, voicing strong opposition to a planned tire recycling plant. The "We won't give up Žabalj, we won't give up Jegrička" protest highlighted community concerns over the facility's proposed location, which is only 800 meters from the first houses.

The plant is slated to process up to 72 tons of waste tires daily. Citizens are demanding either the relocation of the factory or the complete cancellation of the project. They argue that the area is already burdened by a landfill and various farms, and adding a tire processing plant would exacerbate pollution.

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We simply don't want anything else to poison us anymore.

Miloš, a local resident who submitted objections to the environmental impact study, expressed frustration over the lack of response. "We simply don't want anything else to poison us anymore," he stated, emphasizing the proximity to a water source that supplies the entire town and the potential contamination of agricultural land and the Jegrička marsh.

Protesters have submitted over 500 objections to the study, awaiting a response that was due by the end of August. They seek concrete answers on the benefits of such a factory for the community and fear the irreversible damage to their environment and food production.

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So, either they move out of Žabalj, or simply there is no such thing here.