Albania pollution scandals threaten EU hopes

Pollution and waste-corruption scandals in Albania's industrial city of Elbasan are putting renewed pressure on public health, environmental enforcement and the country's hopes of joining the European Union.

Environmental inspectors who responded to two fires this summer found 318 tonnes of toxic industrial dust that had been stored for months in a chrome factory, AlbChrome, without transfer contracts for treatment or safe disposal. The site, owned by Turkish group Yildirim, was temporarily shut.

Elbasan has long been affected by pollution from a large industrial complex built during Albania's communist era. Residents and experts described repeated smoke, dust and harmful emissions from factories and waste sites.

A days-long fire in July 2025 at a waste dump near homes outside Elbasan led to concentrations of toxic furans, dioxins, methane and volatile organic compounds more than seven times above safety limits, according to Professor Besnik Baraj of Albania's Academy of Sciences.

The city's waste problems have also become part of a wider corruption scandal. Nearly 150 million euros in public funds were spent on incinerator projects in Elbasan, Tirana and Fier. The Elbasan incinerator, which cost 26 million euros, operated only briefly, the Fier facility never functioned, and the 100-million-euro Tirana incinerator was never built.

Former environment minister Lefter Koka was jailed for receiving 3.7 million euros in kickbacks. Former deputy prime minister Arben Ahmetaj has fled to Switzerland and denies wrongdoing. Anti-corruption prosecutors have opened further proceedings involving alleged money laundering within a criminal group.

A separate toxic-waste case erupted in 2024 when Thai authorities turned back more than 100 containers holding 2,100 tonnes of waste from Elbasan that had been labelled as legal iron oxide. Albanian prosecutors have issued 33 arrest warrants against customs officers and National Environment Agency employees over alleged involvement in the scheme.

The European Commission said fighting corruption is a key condition for a country to join the EU and that Albania must align its environmental rules with EU standards before closing accession talks on waste management, water and air quality.