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Miljana Scekic, Deputy CEOAt Jugo-Impex, waste streams are viewed as ‘urban mines’ that can create genuine value. Hazardous waste management begins with understanding each stream and keeping resources in an optimised loop, lowering costs and maximising efficiency while minimising what ends up in landfill.
A Serbian, family-owned business, Jugo-Impex gives industrial and manufacturing companies one fully licensed partner across collection, transport, storage, treatment, recycling and disposal, alongside resource-recovery capabilities through its copper foundry.
Founded in 1990, Jugo-Impex established its hazardous waste management department by staying ahead of Serbian and EU regulations and developing strong partnerships with manufacturing companies to understand their processes and manage waste responsibly. It also worked closely with academic and scientific institutions while investing in employee education and equipment.
In 2025, Jugo-Impex completed the licensing expansion for its waste management centre, enabling it to manage additional hazardous waste streams. The 3,600-square-meter facility handles 50 tonnes of waste and 24 tonnes of waste oils daily, covering over 500 European Waste Codes.
“For us, circular economy isn’t just a buzzword, but something we live and work by every day,” says Miljana Scekic, deputy CEO.
One Chain, Multiple Waste Streams
Jugo-Impex’s field teams use specialised equipment to handle waste collection. Oils and lubricants, solvents, packaging and e-waste are separated by potential hazards and stored in areas designed for environmental control, reducing accident risks.
Layouts are engineered to facilitate access, daily inspections of packaged waste, condition monitoring and controlled loading and unloading. Each stream is assessed for recycling first, followed by energy recovery and other treatment options.
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For us, circular economy isn’t just a buzzword, but something we live and work by every day.
Disposal remains the last resort, undertaken only after the material is separated from hazardous components. When no local solution exists, its international partners provide treatment, with the waste tracked and documented through to the final facility.
For one production company generating around 2,000 tonnes of waste annually, Jugo-Impex reduced the amount reaching landfill to just 3 per cent through this approach.
Giving Copper Scrap a Second Life
Jugo-Impex has extensive experience in copper cable recycling, with around 10,000 tonnes of cables and 60,000 tonnes of copper scrap recycled to date.
At its copper foundry, scrap reaches the ‘end of waste’ stage and reemerges as a new product, turning recovery into resource creation. The facility can process up to 8,000 tonnes annually. Hazardous coatings and insulation are separated from scrap before being transformed into high-purity copper shot that meets specific purity and weight parameters for sale into the EU as a raw material for producing copper sulphate.
Dealing with waste across different materials has also helped the company build strict material-tracking and handling discipline that later became its operating standard.
Accountability across the Waste Cycle
Jugo-Impex monitors the quantity, quality and composition of incoming waste as well as the recycled products. Copper-based materials, processed on its production line, are further assessed for physical and mechanical properties against its specifications. The resulting product is made entirely from waste, meets EU standards, and is registered under REACH.
Managing waste from its processes allows Jugo-Impex to keep operational waste effectively at zero. Wastewater, workplace air quality and emissions are monitored against applicable parameters, with waste gases treated before release and residues sent for recycling.
Jugo-Impex reports the status of collected waste to clients every six months or annually, supported by full tracking and manifest documentation that provides an auditable record from collection through final disposal. This accountability reinforces the reliability clients value, while regular visits to their facilities help adapt capabilities to how waste is generated in real operations.
Strong leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit underpin this adaptability, aligning employees around a common strategy and embracing change, experimentation and transformation. Steady investment in people, technology and infrastructure has enabled Jugo-Impex to remain responsive to evolving industrial needs. For the company, that means treating every waste stream as an urban mine— maximising recovery while minimising environmental harm.
Hazardous Waste Management Built Around Traceability and Recovery
European manufacturers cannot treat hazardous waste outsourcing as a simple haulage contract. Removing material from a site does not remove the need to prove how it was classified, where it moved, who accepted it and which licensed facility ultimately treated it. That makes documentation a procurement issue, not an administrative afterthought. A credible provider should be able to maintain a clear chain of custody and show that each handoff remains within the permitted route. Weakness here can leave an environmental manager reconstructing records months later, often after the waste itself is no longer accessible for inspection.
Collection schedules expose another fault line. Industrial sites generate different waste streams at different rates, and the contractor must be prepared for variation without forcing the plant to improvise storage or sourcing. Breadth matters because fragmented vendor arrangements multiply handoffs and can make responsibility harder to follow. Buyers should look closely at permit coverage, field competence, vehicle suitability and the way storage areas are physically organized. Site work deserves the same scrutiny as treatment. A provider that can inspect, classify, package and prepare transport with its own trained crews reduces dependence on improvised handoffs before waste reaches storage. Separation by hazard profile, routine package inspection, accessible storage layout and controlled loading practices are more useful indicators than a long services page.
“JUGO-IMPEX combines licensed hazardous-waste handling with documented tracking from pickup through final treatment for industrial clients.”
Disposal percentages also deserve scrutiny. Landfill may remain necessary for material that cannot move into another treatment route, but it should not be the default destination. The stronger service model works through a hierarchy that favors recycling, then uses other treatment routes before disposal. That requires more than a local plant. Some waste types need specialist treatment elsewhere, particularly when no suitable process exists in the country where the waste originates. A contractor needs a credible network of licensed downstream partners and enough documentation discipline to follow the material after it leaves its own facility. Cross-border treatment introduces another test. The provider must know which downstream operator is licensed for the waste stream and retain documentation for the manufacturer to verify the route.
Price comparisons can obscure these differences because the cheapest collection quote may cover only the first movement of waste. Procurement teams are better served by testing how far responsibility actually extends. Can the provider manage recurring pickup without repeated sourcing? Can it document the final treatment route? Can it reduce dependence on landfills where viable recovery paths exist? Can it explain what happens when no domestic treatment route exists? Frequency matters too, since accumulated waste can consume plant space and create avoidable pressure on internal storage controls between scheduled collections. Those questions reveal whether a contract simplifies the manufacturer’s waste burden or merely moves part of it outside the gate.
For executives who seek one accountable provider across collection, transport, storage and treatment, JUGO-IMPEX merits consideration as a premier choice. It combines licensed hazardous-waste handling with documented tracking from pickup through final treatment for industrial clients.
Its 3,700-square-meter facility is licensed for more than 500 EWC codes and can handle 50 tons of hazardous waste per day, plus 24 tons of waste oils. When a suitable final treatment route is unavailable in Serbia, it works with licensed European partners. Its recovery-first approach and periodic client reporting give industrial buyers a practical basis for consolidating responsibility without losing audit visibility.
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