News
Slovenian Armed Forces ready for a sample cleaning campaign
On Saturday, 10 April, the Slovenian Armed Forces will organise a sample cleaning campaign as part of the national environmental campaign »Clean Slovenia in One Day«. Within this campaign, SAF members will clean two illegal waste dumps administered by the Ministry of Defence, i.e. the former military training field Strmica nad Vrhniko and terrain surrounding the Novo mesto Military Post. The Central Training Range at Poček will also be cleaned. With this campaign, the Slovenian Armed Forces will introduce the organisers of the campaign “Clean Slovenia in One Day” to all the logistic and organisational challenges which will be faced during the campaign.
On the illegal waste dump in the former military training field Strmica nad Vrhniko, there is some 25 cubic metres of waste, such as cable residue, plastic bottles, car pieces and other types of waste material. The waste is located in abandoned hangars and the building, as well as in the natural environment. The cleaning campaign in Strmica will take place between 9.00 and 14.00 and will include 50 SAF members.
On the illegal waste dump in the terrain around the Novo mesto Military Post, there is some 10 cubic metres of waste in two locations. The waste includes car tyres, plastic containers, car seats and other types of waste material, all located in the natural environment. The cleaning campaign in Novo mesto will take place between 9.00 and 14.00 and will include 25 SAF members.
There are no illegal waste dumps in the Central Training Range at Poček. However, in certain locations, there is some waste, such as plastic containers, mixed waste and residue left after blank ammunition trainings. The cleaning campaign at Poček will take place between 9.00 and 13.00 and will include approximately 180 members of the Doctrine, Development, Education and Training Command.
The waste gathered during the campaign will be delivered by the SAF to the collecting points, where it will be picked up by municipal utility companies. During the cleaning campaign, an inventory of hazardous and construction waste dumps will be made and competent inspection services will be accordingly notified.
The Slovenian Armed Forces have been practicing separate collection of waste since 2003. Until 2005, appropriate infrastructure and collection sites for recyclable waste were established. Intensive training regarding ecology has risen the level of environmental awareness of SAF members. The number of designated collection sites for recyclable waste (different containers for individual waste fractions) at each Military Post and other SAF facilities depends on the number of employees and the arrangement of buildings. In the Slovenian Armed Forces, there is on the average five collection sites for each 400 employees. Such collection sites comprise of three 1000-litre containers for paper, packaging and mixed waste. In 2009, the Slovenian Armed Forces gathered approximately 2.000 tons of unhazardous and 400 tons of hazardous waste.
The Slovenian Armed Forces will also take part in the national environmental campaign “Clean Slovenia in One Day”, which will take place on Saturday, 17 April. All SAF members will be included, with the exception of those assuming duties at home or abroad. Within the campaign, they will clean the territories in the property of the Ministry of Defence, military posts, warehouses and other SAF buildings and their direct vicinity. The recyclable waste will be separated, while the unrecyclable waste will be taken to collection sites designated by the organiser of the environmental campaign “Clean Slovenia in One Day”.