Many people are used to garbage collection being just a few euros per month on the bill, not worth thinking about. From January 1, 2027, this expense item may become noticeable: according to the Association of Entrepreneurs in Waste Management (APOH), the cost of recycling and waste disposal will increase by 70–100%, and municipalities are already warning about doubling bills for residents.
This also applies to Ukrainians in Slovakia: the local fee for municipal waste is paid by everyone living in rented or owned housing — either directly to the valuation department or through the landlord as part of utility payments. Almost all households will feel the increase in their own wallets.
What exactly is changing
From January 1, 2027, mixed municipal waste can no longer be simply taken to a landfill. Before disposal, it must undergo mechanicko-biologická úprava (MBÚ — mechanical-biological treatment): a technological process during which materials suitable for recycling are separated from the waste, solid alternative fuel is produced, and the organic part is stabilized so it does not pollute the air and soil.
The technology is more environmentally friendly than a regular landfill but also much more expensive. The cost difference will be passed on to the end consumer: as noted by the Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia (ZMOS), the law requires that waste management be financed without deficit, so the increased costs will be fully paid by the resident as the waste producer.
For scale: today the fee for landfill disposal per ton of waste ranges from 11 to 33 euros depending on the sorting level in the municipality, and it has not changed for five years. Each resident of Slovakia produces about 500 kg of waste per year, totaling over 2.5 million tons nationwide, and 39% of all municipal waste still goes to landfills.
Why now: the history of delays
The requirement for mandatory MBÚ treatment has been in Slovak legislation since 2019, with an initial start date of January 1, 2021. Then the deadline was postponed repeatedly: to 2023, 2024, and 2025, to allow local governments time to build the necessary infrastructure. The last postponement happened in November 2024. The parliament then delayed the start from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2027.
This time there will be no delay. As Techbyte reports citing STVR, the Ministry of Environment confirmed that the country already has sufficient waste processing capacity, and further postponement would violate obligations to the European Union. For comparison: neighboring Czechia negotiated an exemption and will introduce a similar requirement only from 2030.
How much you will have to pay
Exact new tariffs are not yet available — they will be set by municipalities, and differences between cities and villages will be significant. Experts from the industry portal Odpady-portal.sk agree that price increases are inevitable. Even attempts to adjust landfill fees twice stalled at the government decision stage: in November 2024, the government first approved new rates, then canceled the decision a week later.
The realistic scenario voiced by APOH is a cost increase of 70–100%. If your family currently pays, say, 10–15 euros per month for garbage collection, after 2027 the amount may approach 20–30 euros.
What you can do now
There is no direct way to avoid the increase, but you can influence your own bill:
- Sort waste more carefully. The less mixed waste a household produces, the smaller the volume of expensive MBÚ treatment it pays for. Paper, plastic, glass, and bio-waste are collected separately in most municipalities.
- Check with your samospráva (local government) or landlord how your fee is calculated — by container volume, number of residents, or fixed. In some cities, switching to more frequent sorting actually reduces the fee.
- Watch local council decisions at the end of 2026: that is when municipalities will approve new tariffs for 2027.
If Slovak bureaucratic terminology on bills still seems like a dark forest, our dictionary of Slovak terms will help you understand exactly what you are being charged for.
