NEWSLETTER 02 | 2021 WASTE AND RECYCLING MANAGEMENT AS PART OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY EDITORIAL Economic growth generally implies growing demand for raw materials, down. Plastic waste in the ocean does considerable damage to energy and other natural resources, while growing amounts of materi- flora and fauna and finds its way into the human food chain. This news- als end up as waste if not properly managed. The use of raw materials letter highlights practice-oriented circular economy solutions related to from natural resources and the related production and consumption waste and recycling management as part of our work in Albania, Serbia processes have environmental, economic and social consequences be- and the Americas. Our team of specialists from the Water, Sanitation & yond national borders. Even though a circular economy is increasingly Waste Management Department provide comprehensive solutions based viewed internationally as a necessity and opportunity, integrated solu- on longstanding technical experience and innovative thinking. Within the tions related to the issue of waste are still not at the forefront of practice. GFA Climate & Energy Cluster and its Technical Working Group on Green Many developing countries and emerging economies are facing major and Circular Economy inhouse experts leverage synergies by collaborating challenges in improving waste and recycling management systems. across all relevant business units within the GFA Group so that services for all aspects of a circular economy can be developed and provided. Waste should no longer be deposited in uncontrolled landfills, illegal rubbish tips or incinerated in the open, and it must not end up in water- Anja Desai ways, resulting in climate-damaging greenhouse gases as it breaks Managing Director Raw materials are becoming scarcer, en- CLIMATE-FRIENDLY SOLID WASTE AND RECYCLING MANAGEMENT IN ALBANIA ergy more expensive, and the amount of waste is rising worldwide. Less than ten Dumping waste in open, unregulated disposal ticular with the Directorate for Environment per cent of the raw materials consumed sites is a common sight in Albania. Most of the Policies and Waste Management Sector, and the are currently recycled. For a circular reasons for this phenomenon lie in challeng es National Environment Agency (NEA). Regionally, economy it is essential to recycle ma- of transporting waste to regional waste man- the project focuses on two regional NEA and SEI terials and recover energy from waste. agement centers. Therefore, the Modernized, offices, where some of the partner municipalities Municipalities provide the separation Climate-friendly Solid Waste and Recycling are located. At the local level, the project works and collection of used materials, and Management program of GIZ has been support- closely with the municipalities of Himara, Belsh, increase recycling capacities for the sec- ing initiatives to strengthen the waste manage- Peqin, Roskovec, Cerrik and Saranda. Its overall ondary use of materials in order to re- ment in several municipalities in Albania since objective is to establish foundations for climate- duce the final disposal or incineration of 2020. The project cooperates with the Ministry sensitive implementation of the national strategy waste. Such measures will be more effec- of Tourism and Environment (MoTE), in par- for integrated solid waste management through tive if integrated in a circular economy. This transformation requires a change in knowledge, attitudes and practices among stakeholders. Companies design and offer products that are intended for a long lifespan, can be repaired and recycled, and are built with a high degree of secondary raw ma- terials. Citizens change their consump- tion and product utilization practices towards more sustainable alternatives. Governments develop and implement laws and regulations as well as market- based instruments to foster sustainable product development and production, sustainable consumption and product utilization as well as recycling and waste Participants holding their certificates of participation in the introduction to waste disposal site operation and management workshop in Cerrik management. 1 one representative from each of partnering equipment and how to continuously manage munici palities of Roskovec and Belsh. In addition, daily waste loads to minimize adverse impacts teachers and students from the local agricultural from waste disposal. They had the opportunity vocational school took part in the training. to observe typical equipment in operation and develop further appreciation of the practicali- INTRODUCTION TO WASTE DISPOSAL SITE ties of waste disposal site operation and main- OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT WORK- tenance. Municipal staff developed enhanced SHOP IN PEQIN confidence in taking their disposal sites into Peqin is one of the partner municipalities, where operation and in sustaining the improvements a GFA long-term advisor is providing consulting made once the remediation works have been services. Waste is currently covering the entire delivered. area of a gully designated for waste disposal. Operating machinery onsite that is supposed to DEVELOPMENT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT consolidate the waste but is not working regu- PLANS FOR CERRIK AND SARANDA larly. This is a common issue in interim waste Under Output 3 of the mentioned program, GFA disposal sites throughout Albania. In order to ad- has advised selected partner municipalities to Demonstration in the field on the composting dress this problem, the project’s Output 4 is cur- apply climate-sensitive integrated waste man- process and the equipement needed rently developing a related operating manual. A agement procedures. One of the activities related workshop on the introduction to waste disposal to the introduction of modernized methods for advisory services to MoTE, environmental compli- site operation and management in Peqin aimed the management of municipal waste in partner ance related to solid waste management (SWM), at testing and contributing to the content devel- municipalities is the development of waste man- modernized SWM at the local level, and opera- opment of the manual. agement plans. The purpose of such plans is to tional standards of existing landfill sites. The event was attended by municipal officials optimize service costs, and, at the same time, GFA Consulting Group has been implementing assigned to city planning and the municipality to introduce more modern and environmentally the program’s Output 3 that aims at applying wheeled loader operator from Peqin, officials re- friendly services. The plans are drafted according climate-sensitive integrated SWM policies in se- sponsible for waste disposal site operations and to an easily monitorable methodology that de- lected partner municipalities, and Output 4 with oversight in the municipalities of Skrapar, Prrenjas fines the needs for a genuine service enterprise the objective of improving operational and envi- and Girokastra, and a representative of the Min- so that the latter can implement plan require- ronmental standards of existing landfill sites with istry of Interior responsible for municipal services. ments as accurately as possible. temporary operation permits. The objective of the workshop was to provide an The technical team set up by the municipality introduction and demonstration related to im- has been assisted by experts from a consortium OPERATING AND MAINTAINING THE proved waste disposal site operation and man- of GFA Group, RWA Group and Eco-DES Studio WINDROW COMPOST FACILITY IN CERRIK agement for project partner municipalities that that helped drafting and consulting plans for the Between October 2020 and April 2021, GIZ are involved in transitioning dumpsites to interim municipalities of Cerrik and Saranda. Both plans assistance helped transform the former unper- landfills. Relevant staff learned how to physi- have been officially approved. mitted and unlined municipal waste disposal site cally organize and operate site infrastructure and Contact: [email protected] in Cerrik into a green waste composting facility. As part of this assistance, equipment to operate the windrow composting process has been pro- vided to the municipality. Following the construc- tion of the composting facility and the supply of main items of equipment required to operate it, the GFA team organized a one-day technical as- sistance workshop for the municipality staff re- sponsible for the site. This capacity development effort aimed at providing an introductory orien- tation related to all equipment and steps of the windrow composting process from green waste production to final compost product. Relevant municipality staff was familiarized with the infrastructure and equipment provided so that the personnel has become confident in op- erating the facility. The workshop was attended by 26 participants from Cerrik Municipality and Creation of working face for appropriate operational layering and compacting waste 2 SUPPORTING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY In order to increase awareness for CE IN SERBIA practices in the sector, GFA organized Between 2019 and 2021, GFA has implemented onsite and virtual trainings and workshops the Climate-sensitive Waste Management project in close coordination with GIZ. The goal in Serbia on behalf of GIZ. The project focused was to bring together stakeholders from on three related key pillars of a circular economy the private and public sectors such as CIRCULAR (CE): policy framework, integrated waste man- the Chamber