Every morning, garbage trucks crisscross the Albanian capital, Tirana, before heading out to the Sharra landfill site, a growing mountain of waste on the outskirts of the city.

Seven years after the government promised to construct a modern waste-to-energy plant, the project remains unfinished and under investigation for corruption.

Home to nearly one million people, about a third of Albania's total population, Tirana generates almost half of the country's urban waste.

The city's rapid expansion has far outpaced its infrastructure: Waste collection here is irregular, recycling almost non-existent and the main landfill site is nearing full capacity.

Waste crisis at a critical point

Environmental expert Olsi Nika, director of the NGO Eco Albania, says the capital's waste crisis has reached a critical point.

"This isn't just poor management, it's a system that never really worked," he told DW. "The incinerators that were supposed to solve the problem never operated, and the collection points around them are now overflowing. In Sharra, the capital's main landfill, a new section was opened, but it can't keep growing indefinitely."

The situation in Tirana reflects a wider problem across the country.

According to the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), Albania generated around 820,000 tons of urban waste in 2022. Nearly 77% was sent to landfill, less than 20% was recycled and the remainder was either burned or left uncollected.

For Olsi Nika, these numbers confirm how fragile the system is.

"Local governments lack the capacity and coordination to manage waste properly," he said. "Most of them operate without adequate infrastructure, and waste separation at source is almost non-existent."

Waste management key to EU accession

As Albania advances on its path toward European Union membership, environmental reform has become one of its biggest tests.

Waste management, long seen as a local issue, is now at the heart of the country's EU accession agenda.

Chapter 27 of the EU negotiations, which covers environment and climate, is widely viewed as the most complex and costly to meet.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has called it "the most challenging negotiation chapter and the toughest part of our EU accession," noting that progress in waste processing has so far been limited.

Will the government's plan make a difference?

The government has responded by presenting a draft Law on Integrated Waste Management and announcing plans to create a National Waste Operator, a public agency that would coordinate waste collection and treatment nationwide.

The reform marks a shift from the current model, where municipalities manage waste locally, toward a centralized system that aims to improve efficiency and bring national legislation closer to EU environmental standards.

Environmental expert Olsi Nika says the reform could help, but only if it goes beyond institutional restructuring.

"Centralization might improve coordination," he explained, "but without political will, transparency and funding, the new law will face the same fate as previous strategies."

From rivers to tourism: the cost of neglect

Twenty-five-year-old environmental activist Denisa Kasa spends her weekends on the banks of Albania's polluted rivers.

Last year, she founded "Rrjedha," a citizen initiative that seeks to explore and clean the country's rivers.

What started out as a small activity now involves more than 180 volunteers across the country.

"Many rivers have turned into transport systems for waste," Kasa told DW. "In several villages there are no bins or collection services, so, people throw their garbage directly into the river or along its banks."

With their clean-up campaigns, the volunteers try to reach locals who are more aware of the problem than others and encourage them to take part in future events.

But Kasa says that awareness is still limited. "People often expect change to come from somewhere else, not from themselves," she says. "Environmental institutions have done little to build that culture."

The impact of Albania's burgeoning tourism sector

Environmental expert Olsi Nika says the problem goes far beyond what people can see.

"It's no longer just one source of pollution," he explains. "Rivers carry the waste along their course, spreading it into soil, groundwater and even the air when plastic is burned. Over time, it breaks down into tiny particles that enter the food chain, an invisible but widespread threat."

For Denisa Kasa, the pollution stands in contrast to the image of a tourist-friendly Albania that the government has been promoting in recent years.

"Tourism should be the last thing we promote if we can't manage our waste," she says. "Visitors see plastic along highways, rivers and beaches, the same nature we try to promote."

Kasa stresses that tourism itself adds to the problem: "more plastic, more consumption. Without a proper waste system, this could easily turn into a boomerang," she says.

"You can still be amazed by Albania's nature," adds Kasa, "but it's hard not to be disappointed by how it's treated."

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan