Wine-region residents fear planned recycling center could destroy everything they have

In Serbia’s Župa wine region, residents say a planned waste transfer station could take away the area’s defining asset: its wine.

The draft regional waste-management plan through 2034 proposes a shared recycling center for Aleksandrovac, Brus and Blace in Gornje Zleginje, at the center of Župa’s vineyards and wineries. The region is known for indigenous grape varieties and family-run wineries that preserve a centuries-old tradition.

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We would lose the value of our land. We would lose everything. We would lose everything we had.

“We would lose the value of our land. We would lose everything. We would lose everything we had,” said Radenko Žarković, a winemaker from Gornje Zleginje. He also questioned the choice of a site near the Ćelija water-supply system, saying residents had been passed between officials in Kruševac and elsewhere without a clear explanation.

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I think they wanted to hide the public review. Nobody knew it had taken place.

Residents say they accept that a waste facility may be needed, but not among vineyards and small wineries. Local associations argue that the site was selected hastily and that the plan offers no clear guarantees for maintenance, remediation or safe waste treatment. They also say the proposed plot is privately owned.

Few people in Aleksandrovac knew about the plan before the document appeared, according to Ljubica Golubović, an opposition councillor. At a public hearing in Kruševac, most questions concerned the Župa center and who had proposed the location. Participants were told that Aleksandrovac municipality had supplied it as a possible solution. The issue is expected to reach the municipal assembly’s agenda within days, while the opposition prepares questions for the debate.

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The project exists. And we are aware that this has to be resolved. But not here.