Tons of floating waste has been removed from the Potpecko reservoir on the Lim river, the Serbian Environmental Protection Ministry said on Thursday.

The operation to clean up the reservoir which was flooded by garbage early in January after heavy rains. Serbian Minister Irena Vujovic met online with her counterparts in Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina to organize the cleanup of the Lim and Drina rivers.

The ministry said that other long-term measures would be put in place to solve the problem, including the construction of a waste dump and disposal of existing landfills. Vujovic is quoted as saying that the waste in the Lim and Drina rivers are a problem that Serbia can’t solve without its neighbours, adding that the important thing is to find a lasting solution through regional cooperation.