Harnessing the AI potentials for coping with solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans

The Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) face a number of challenges in their socio-economic development including the environment protection from various types of pollution. Growing amounts of municipal waste and improper waste management lead to unprecedented environmental pollution. Most municipal waste in the Western Balkan region is still sent to landfills thus exerting a serious negative social and environmental impact. In addition, the proportion of population without provision of communal services for collection of municipal waste is relatively high compared to the EU standards. In November 2020 the Western Balkan countries signed the Declaration entitled the ‘Green Agenda for the Western Balkans’, adhering to the European Green Deal and its goals for an environmentally neutral and competitive economy (European Commission 2020). It focuses on five key pillars: climate action, clean air, clean water, clean land, and a healthy environment, which are aligned with the ambitions of the European Green Deal (RCC, 2025).

In this context, one of the most urgent problems in the Western Balkan region are the sites polluted with solid waste that are not properly managed (the so-called dumps). Recent assessment of contaminated or potentially contaminated sites shows an absence of comprehensive registries as well as insufficient remedial efforts for their cleaning (Arias-Navaro et al., 2025). This situation can be partly attributed to the lack of capacity of the national/local authorities to deal with this problem including a lack of financial resources and staff, insufficient cross-institutional cooperation and poor enforcement of the waste legislation. In addition, the awareness of population about the environmental protection is on a relatively low level. The extent of the soil pollution problem in the Western Balkans is rather unknown due to the scarcity of available data and the lack of accurate records on exposure of the local population (Vidojević, 2025). The alarming trends in land degradation call for urgent action in order to restore the environment and to mobilize the local community in coping with the solid waste pollution.

Having in mind the above considerations, the aim of this paper is to convey the results from the project entitled ‘Harnessing the AI potentials in coping with solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans’ that was implemented in the Municipality of Prilep (North Macedonia) during the period January-June 2025. Its idea is to foster the AI supported ecoactivism based on advanced IT technologies in order to help mitigate the problem of solid waste pollution outside the settlements. The widespread use of smartphones and mobile applications can help in mobilizing the potential of the local communities in coping with the environmental problems and can create synergies between civil society and local/national authorities. The previous experience shows that solid waste management systems powered by AI and Computer Vision have the potential to build cleaner, greener and more resilient ecosystems (Lakshmi, 2025). The adoption of innovative approaches and increased public participation in managing the solid waste can safeguard public health, preserve natural resources and ensure environmental sustainability (Tiwari and Pallavi, 2025).

Project description

The project started with a desk analysis of the officially published reports and publications in order to assess the state of the art regarding solid waste pollution in the Western Balkans. In addition, several workshops with local environmental activists and representatives of local/national authorities were organized with an aim to explore and co-create innovative solutions for addressing solid waste pollution through the use of artificial intelligence and digital tools. Furthermore, a demo-version of mobile application based on using Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence was developed. The application is named ‘Vertex AI waste management’ and it is accessible for downloading on Google Play Store and App Store.

After installing the application, the registration of each user is done with SMS authentication. The application is based on a computer vision for identification of objects on a picture taken and attributing them to predefined categories of solid waste with estimated probability. For this purpose, it communicates with an Application Programming Interface (API), which employs advanced Machine Learning algorithms to differentiate between variants of similar looking materials. The predefined categories of solid waste are the following: clothes, plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, trash, shoes, glass, battery and biological waste. Furthermore, a GPS locator is used for determining the exact locations of the identified polluted sites. A user-friendly dashboard is designed for presenting the polluted sites on a map with possibility of using filters for showing the sites containing a particular category of solid waste.

Results

The mobile application was tested in real life conditions and initial data of dumps in the municipality of Prilep was collected. During the pilot period of implementation, the local eco-activists were voluntarily engaged in detecting polluted sites and collecting pictures of dumps, while in the future, the collection of new data will be based on crowdsourcing. The collected data were stored in a database with possibility for their further analysis. In addition, promo materials have been developed and circulated through the social networks in order to increase the visibility of the application and to create incentives among the wider public for using IT tools in dealing with environmental issues.

The full implementation of this tool requires creation of precise workflow with respect to several questions such as: How the data will be organised and indicators produced? Which institutions will have possibility to access the data? How the actions to be taken will be determined etc. Developing a collaborative workflow model will foster a more efficient, transparent, and citizen-inclusive approach to identifying, reporting, and resolving cases of illegal dumping. In this context, the readiness of the local authorities to apply AI solutions in their everyday work represents a challenge that needs to be tackled. The newly created waste management system should identify the role of each actor in the process of coping with solid waste pollution as well as their mutual interaction and cooperation. In the future, it is assumed that the database will be continually updated with new photos of polluted sites, alongside with appropriately marking the records of sites that are adequately treated.

The use of the AI based tools offer great opportunities for further data procession and production of various metrics and indicators. Besides spotting the most polluted areas, the system can provide information for estimating the size and composition of dumps with possibility for selection and recycling. Namely, by applying filters conditional on sufficiently high probability of detection, the sites with specific categories of solid waste can be identified. Recycling solid waste would slow down the depletion of natural resources, reduce landscape and habitat disruption and help to limit the biodiversity loss. The recent finding shows that AI based waste management systems offer effective and sustainable solutions that not only facilitate the classification and management of waste, but they also promote more environmentally responsible practices (Meza et al., 2025).

Conclusion

By addressing the ‘triple eco-crisis’ that world faces today (climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss) this project has brought several benefits. By raising the awareness about the negative impact of the irresponsible waste disposal practices, it contributes to protection of the environment and generates additional social benefits such as better planning and disposal strategies. The project directly contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in making human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable by reducing the environmental impact of cities. More precisely, it addresses the Goal 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’ and Goal 15 ‘Life on lend’.

Furthermore, the project helps for efficient use of the limited resources for detecting and cleaning the dumps. Namely, by greater inclusion of various stakeholders in coping with solid waste pollution, there are possibilities for creation of synergy between civil society organisations and local government. In addition, there is a great potential for improving the solid waste management system by using the recent advancement in IT including the widespread use of smartphones.

The follow-up activities include promotion campaigns as well as sharing experience with other environmental civil society organisations in the Western Balkan region. Having in mind the myriad of potential benefits, we expect that this project can be replicated in other Western Balkan countries thus protecting, restoring and promoting the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

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