Under the city government's proposal, the fixed household fee will rise from €3.98 to €12.42 excluding VAT as of October 1. Former Deputy Mayor Ivošević sharply criticizes Mayor Šuta and Čistoća Director Pehar, claiming the city center is overflowing with trash.
Split's city-owned waste management company Čistoća has opened a public consultation on a draft decision proposing a 212% increase in the price of mixed municipal waste collection. For households, the fixed portion of the fee is set to rise from the current €3.98 excluding VAT to €12.42 excluding VAT starting October 1, 2026. The decision is signed by Igor Stanišić, president of the Split City Council, a member of Kerum's HGS party, which is a partner of HDZ in the city government.
The price hike will not spare businesses either. They currently pay €13.27 excluding VAT, and under the proposal, the new price would be €18.66 excluding VAT. In both cases, a 13% VAT rate applies to the service.
Although Čistoća announced a price increase back in April 2026, claiming it would be 100%, the draft decision with a significantly larger increase was released for public consultation in the middle of summer, while most residents are on vacation. The justification for the increase cites the fact that waste collection prices in Split have been among the lowest in Croatia for many years, which was only possible through extreme cost-cutting. However, operating at the current price has become unsustainable. Čistoća's deficit in 2025 amounted to €1.35 million, and in the first three months of 2026, it reached €970,000.
The decision's rationale also highlights the need for significant infrastructure investments. "Beyond the infrastructure itself, which is the largest cost (chipping and barcoding (labeling) of containers, equipping special work vehicles, procuring special work vehicles for waste transport, completing the implementation of collection records, completing the installation of semi-underground containers, locking containers, and installing waste meters), great attention will need to be focused on increasing the percentage of recyclable and bio-waste separation," the rationale states.
Particular pressure on Čistoća's finances comes from the waste disposal fee at the Karepovac landfill, which the company has been paying since January 1, 2025, at €30 per ton, with a tendency to increase by €5 per ton each subsequent year. Split will have to close Karepovac, and the city government plans to transport waste to other locations, though the rationale does not specify which ones.
An additional problem is that the Regional Waste Management Center Lećevica, whose director from 2014 to 2018 was current Mayor Tomislav Šuta, has still not been built. As a result, many cities and municipalities in Split-Dalmatia County would have to transport waste distances of up to 300 kilometers. With Karepovac running out of space, Split decided in late July that, starting in August, 16 cities and municipalities from the county would no longer be allowed to dispose of waste there. After the media raised a fuss, that decision was rescinded, and its implementation was postponed until August 21, 2026.
Former Split Deputy Mayor Bojan Ivošević reacted to the planned price increase and the state of the city. On his Facebook profile, he sharply criticized Mayor Šuta and Čistoća Director Vlado Pehar. "The streets have never been dirtier, and the city center has never been more overflowing with trash. This is the result of Tomislav Šuta's populist moves and the poor operational organization of the new Čistoća director, Vlado Pehar, who just happens to be from Šibenik, as is the former councilwoman and token Katarina Prnjak, who has settled into the Split Port Authority," Ivošević wrote.
Ivošević particularly criticized decisions about waste transfer locations, stating that the move to remove Čistoća trucks from Đardin near the Spaladium Arena and then return them to the same location after the collapse was an admission of the city government's capitulation. "They admitted capitulation earlier when they placed trucks next to Bačvice beach, where a whole part of Željezničar stank, because unlike Đardin, that part of the city isn't cleaned every day. Now, with the arrival of crowds at the ferry port, they've shown we were right and that there is unfortunately no alternative to Đardin," he added.
He also commented on the consequences for residents of the old town core: "Unfortunately, now they've placed the truck under the windows of the few residents of the old town core who still live there, and who desperately contacted me to ask that the transfer point be moved from under their windows, because today their breakfast was ruined by the stench of waste." According to Ivošević, the residents did not contact the district council because they do not expect criticism of the mayor from the district council president, who, he claims, "kept quiet about Šuta's support for nightclubs in the city center, which are the biggest problem in the neighborhood."
Concluding his criticism, Ivošević said: "Mr. Pehar may not have proven himself good at organizing quality waste collection services, but he plans to charge 212% more for this worse service."
The new decision also provides for fines for those who do not use the public service in the area where their property is located. For households, a fine of €149.04 excluding VAT is proposed, and for non-household users, €223.92 excluding VAT. The same fines apply to those who do not collect their container or refuse to register it, as well as those who move it from its designated location.
Despite the drastic increase, the city administration says that "the price of services for households and non-household users will remain among the average in the Republic of Croatia even after the correction" and that Čistoća Split has a very high level of service quality. If the announced increase materializes, it will be just one of many price hikes in Split over the past year, from public transport and septic tank emptying to cemetery services.
