In 2019, HEP Group produced a total of 3,105.98 tons of hazardous waste and 81,001.11 tons of non-hazardous waste. The increase in the amount of hazardous waste of 1,650.49 compared to the previous year is a consequence of the cleaning of fuel oil tanks in thermal power plants. The increase in the amount of non-hazardous waste by 9,306.32 tons refers mainly to non-hazardous construction waste generated as a result of overhaul, revitalization and rehabilitation of HEP's plants and due to ash generated in bioenergy plants which use untreated wood chips as fuel.
Waste generated in the HEP Group is separated at the place of origin according to the type and properties of waste and, where possible, is managed in accordance with the order of priority of waste management. All waste generated in the HEP Group is handed over, in accordance with legal regulations, to companies that have a waste management permit or are entered in the appropriate register. After handing over the waste to an authorized waste management company, in accordance with legal regulations, the responsibility for the waste producer ceases, and the responsibility passes to the authorized company. Depending on the type of waste and the existing waste management system in Croatia, waste is handed over for further recovery and disposal. Since Croatia does not have a hazardous waste landfill, and energy reuse capacities are limited and it is thermally possible to recover only some types of waste that are not generated in HEP Group's business processes, authorized waste management companies export hazardous waste. Until the arrival of authorized waste management companies, waste is temporarily stored, for a maximum of one year, in warehouses that are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance on waste management.
For all waste generated in the HEP Group, data on the generation and flow of waste are kept in HEP's electronic database INFOZOK (Environmental Information System).
HEP's only landfill is located on the site of Plomin thermal power plants where only its own non-hazardous production waste is disposed of and only when companies in the surroundings that have a waste recovery permit cannot, in accordance with market requirements (e.g. production capacity. plant maintenance) take over part of the non-hazardous waste. During 2019, a total of 8,405.30 tons of non-hazardous waste was disposed of at the landfill in Plomin, which is 11.28 percent of non-hazardous waste produced in Plomin. The largest amount of fly ash generated in Plomin is not disposed of in landfills but is handed over to cement plants in Croatia and the surrounding area because the quality of fly ash generated in TPP Plomin 2 is much better than the ash generated during operation of both power plants. The amount of disposed non-hazardous waste has decreased in comparison with the previous year because companies that have a recovery permit took over a larger amount of waste.