Partnerships and sustainable local solutions for waste management!

On April 23, AO E-Circular Training and Consulting Center organized for the APLs from RMD 5 (Ungheni, Nisporeni and Călărași), Workshopit with the theme "Management of recyclable waste at the local level through partnerships and sustainable solutions". The workshop took place in the premises of the City Hall. Călărași and was dedicated to facilitating constructive dialogue between all stakeholders, including local government representatives, municipal operators, recyclers, extended producer responsibility (REP) implementation systems, non-governmental organizations and environmental experts.

The main topics covered in the workshop concerned:

• The legislative framework regarding the management of recyclable waste and the implementation of the REP mechanism.
• Possible scenarios for organizing the management of recyclable waste (plastic, paper/cardboard, glass, WEEE).
• Collaboration opportunities municipal operators with recyclers and REP systems.
• Question and answer session and open discussion to identify concrete steps towards implementing an effective recyclable waste management mechanism.

The latest amendments to Law no. 209/2016 on waste were also discussed during the workshop, directly aimed at the cooperation between LPAs and authorized collective systems for the implementation of extended producer responsibility. Respectively:

According to art. 11 of the waste law The local public administration authority develops, in agreement with the collective systems, complementary services to the existing municipal waste management services. The conditions for the introduction of a complementary system for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment, waste batteries and accumulators, waste packaging are agreed by concluding contracts between the collective systems and the deliberative local public administration authority.

41.30% among the Romanian mayors signed a contract with an Organization for the Implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility!

According to art.12¹, paragraph (4) of the waste law collective systems authorized REP by the Environment Agency they have the obligation to conclude contracts with local public administration authorities (or legal entities established by local public administration authorities and appointed to administer the integrated municipal waste management system) for cooperation in organizing separate collection, of the transport and preparation for use, compulsorily, of packaging waste and, optionally, of waste electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators, generated in the municipal waste stream. These contracts provide terms and conditions of cooperation for the operation of the waste collection system for products regulated by extended producer responsibility, generated in the municipal waste stream, for educating and informing the population about the management of this waste, for financing the development of the collection infrastructure waste from the municipal waste stream.

The workshop was organized within the Project "Strategic Communication for the implementation of the National Solid Waste Program in the Republic of Moldova" implemented by e-Circular.org and EcoVisio with the financial support of Embassy of Sweden in Chisinau in partnership with Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Moldova and National Office for Implementation of Projects in the field of Environment