43 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE Fragmentation, tourism pressure, and EU policy: Challenges in Croatia’s municipal waste management system Olivia A. Lundquist Croatia’s waste management system faces compounding pressures from rapid tourism growth and EU circular economy mandates, exposing the inefficiencies of its fragmented municipal governance structure. Tourist arrivals have grown by 10-fold in recent decades, while EU accession has imposed strict recycling targets. This article examines the roots of Croatia’s decentralized waste governance, analyzes how tourism and fragmentation have stalled EU compliance, and recommends structural reforms to reduce municipal fragmentation and enable coordinated progress. Introduction Over the past three decades, Croatia’s separation from Yugoslavia, recovery from war, entrance into the EU, and influx of tourists have all reshaped how the country generates and manages waste. Between 1995 and 2019, Croatia saw a 10-fold increase in tourism, from 1.5 million to 17.4 million. Although this rise correlated with a whopping 170% boost in Croatia’s GDP (Tourism in Croatia, 2026), tourists produce up to 22% more waste per day than residents, placing disproportionate strain on local waste systems (Mance et al., 2020). Croatia’s per capita waste generation remains below the EU average; however, waste generation is growing far faster than the economy, posing concerns about whether current systems can keep pace. For example, between 2012 and 2022, Croatia’s GDP grew by only 39%, while waste generation increased by 71% (European Environment Agency, 2024). Simultaneously, since joining the EU in 2013, Croatia has been subject to increasingly strict waste regulations, creating a fundamental tension between tourism-driven waste growth and EU circular economy mandates. Fragmentation among hundreds of individual municipalities with vastly uneven capacities compounds the problem, stalling implementation and diffusing accountability. Some have made substantial progress through community initiatives, EU programs, and local political commitment to change. In others, separate collection barely exists, and the gap in waste management continues to widen. Croatian waste management prior to joining the EU Croatia’s challenging path transitioning from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia through the Homeland War to independence shaped the waste governance structures it uses today. In each era, waste was largely the responsibility of local governments with a lack of federal oversight. Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia By the 1990s, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia suffered considerable air, water, and soil pollution. There was no federal environmental governance in place, and waste management was primarily community driven. In 1990, the Croatian Democratic Union was established, allowing the region to better implement and enforce environmental policies. That year also saw the formation of Green Action, an NGO for environmental protection that advanced waste collection and disposal guidelines (Zelena Akcija, n.d.). Throughout this period, waste policies were primarily community driven, and federal power was weak. This decentralization was consequential when Croatia later faced EU-mandated waste targets. The absence of coordinated national governance meant each local government was essentially on its own. The Homeland War During the Homeland War (1991–1995), landfilling remained the primary method of waste disposal. In 1994, Croatia produced 610,000 tons of municipal waste. Waste was largely disposed of illegally through unofficial landfills, and the 120 official landfills were poorly managed, further contributing to environmental degradation (State Directorate for the Environment, 1997). Enforcement of waste management policies was a priority for neither the federal government nor individual municipalities. doi:10.18275/pbe-v044-007
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