Community police officers can now assist in detecting illegal waste dumps with drones in Hungary, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Zsófia Koncz stated in the morning programme of the M1 channel on Tuesday.
Zsófia Koncz reminded that permission to use drones was requested by the community police officers themselves, and the legal conditions for this were established by the National Assembly at the end of last year. Community police is present in 2,000 settlements with 67,000 members. They dedicate their free time to maintaining public order and safety, and are are thus greatly respected in their communities, she emphasized.
The state secretary reported that the idea to involve community police in the organized detection and elimination of illegal waste dumps arose because they are constantly present in the settlements, perform various tasks, such as patrolling urban and rural areas, including with mounted patrols, and use dogs, bicycles, and motorcycles to carry out their tasks, thus making their work more effective.
Koncz pointed out that in 2020, the government adopted a climate and nature conservation action plan, part of which is reducing the amount of illegal waste, preventing its disposal, and maintaining the cleanliness of waters. ‘We can be proud that we Hungarians can launch internationally recognized initiatives supported by the government, such as the one in which boats made from waste are used to clean floodplains,’ she highlighted.
The state secretary also mentioned that in the year of the preparation of the climate and nature conservation action plan, the Let’s Clean Up the Country! project was launched, which managed to remove 165,000 tons of illegal waste, while community police officers also started using the Waste Radar application. With initiatives and grants such as TeSzedd!, PET Cup, Waste Radar, and Let’s Clean Up the Country!, over half a million tons of illegal waste have been eliminated in recent years.
Koncz drew attention to the fact that the work continues, the second round of applications for Let’s Clean Up the Country! is open until 27 March, and applications from local governments, civil organizations and companies as well as churches are expected. The state secretary also mentioned that the government has taken several steps recently to facilitate the transition to a circular economy, so that the current generation leave a ‘clean, liveable Hungary for our children and grandchildren.’
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology launched the Let’s Clean Up the Country! project in 2020, initiating a collaborative effort between state and local authorities to tackle the problem of waste in forests, along rivers, next to railway and road facilities, and on municipal public spaces. These illegal dumping sites have sometimes been accumulating for decades, polluting and disfiguring our environment. A clean-up project of this magnitude had never been undertaken in Hungary before.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/M1/MTI
