A protest in Zagreb against Croatia's government drew tens of thousands of people who blamed the government for its lack of action over the illegal storage of toxic waste.

A landfill near the town of Gospic, located some 200 kilometers (124.2 miles) to Zagreb's southwest, is being used to hold toxic waste from several countries, including Germanyand Italy, according to reports.

The demonstration saw signs such as "ecocide equals slow genocide" and "halt waste import," with many of the people in attendance also holding Croatian flags.

The protesters called for all illegal landfills to be cleared due to them polluting groundwater, as well as a new waste management plan across the country within the next 20 days. They also demanded that the government put a temporary ban on waste imports in place.

Investigation underway

An investigation in relation to illegal waste dumps has been ongoing since the arrests of 13 people in February 2025, with Europol cooperating with Croatian authorities in the investigation. Four companies are also under investigation.

According to Europol, most of the 35,000 tons of waste had come from Italy, but also from Slovenia and Germany, and consisted of plastic refuse and toxic hospital waste, bringing about a profit of some €4 million ($4.6 million) for the suspects, who had also likely forged documents falsely declaring plastic waste as suitable for recycling.

Local environmental activists dispute the number of waste tons and say 37,000 tons had been illegally dumped in Gospic alone.

Prosecutors also published a report in August that confirmed the Gospic soil contamination, also saying it had spread beyond the site itself.

This presents a "significant risk for the environmentand people's health," the report said, despite the drinking water in Gospic remaining so far unaffected, health authorities said.

Conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic promised the toxic waste site in Gospic would be covered by mid-October before the waste gets removed from it.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru