In March 2014 ICMA launched a program to assist the country of Georgia to make improvements in its waste management and recycling systems. The Waste Management Technologies in Regions (WMTR) activity is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development through a four-year cooperative agreement under the CityLinks™ Leader with Associates program. Designed to provide waste management and recycling support in selected municipalities in the Kakheti and Adjara regions of Georgia, WMTR is helping to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, minimize pollution of natural resources, enhance public awareness of waste management issues, and encourage citizen engagement.
Through implementation of the program, ICMA will be supported by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) and the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC). ICMA’s local partner CENN provides the leading environmental consultancy in Georgia, guided by its mission “to foster modern and sustainable development values and practices through bridging society and environment.” CENN is instrumental in providing local technical expertise in all WMTR focus areas. ISC, ICMA’s long-time partner on the CityLinks specializing in innovative solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges facing communities, will provide expertise in greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting through assessment of the current GHG mitigation initiatives in the target regions of Georgia.
Project Background and Objectives
Most of the 65 existing landfills in Georgia do not meet international standards, nor do they include separation or waste-based energy production. In rural areas where waste services are inadequate or nonexistent, numerous unofficial dumpsites are utilized. Consequently, these areas suffer health and environmental problems resulting from improper waste disposal. Recycling facilities are scarce, and the few that do exist are owned by private businesses. With this in mind, WMTR is delivering technical assistance to apply best practices in landfill remediation and preparation of landfills’ closing plans, working primarily at local and regional levels with targeted national level support.
Specific objectives of the project include:
- Promote the mitigation and sequestration of greenhouse gases from landfills
- Support the growth of the recycling industry, initially in Adjara, by improving waste separation and supporting the recycling industry
- Minimize pollution by closing old, illegal landfills and dumpsites, based on best practices
- Work with relevant entities to establish a fee for waste collection and disposal services to ensure a financially sustainable system
- Establish systems and practices at the community level for composting, recycling, truck routing, and disposal of medical, hazardous, and construction waste.
WMTR is working to achieve these objectives in four project component:
- Waste collection and recycling systems
- Private sector-led recycling
- Waste management strategy and tariff policy
- Communication and outreach.
Project Activities Highlights
In the initial WMTR phase, the team is building on the previous experiences in the targeted regions, assessing the condition of waste management and recycling structures and preparing recommendations for intervention in all eight municipalities of the Kakheti region. In addition, the team is selecting municipalities with the potential for recycling improvement in the Adjara region and for composting improvement in Kakheti region.
Going forward, program activities will promote greenhouse gas mitigation by improving waste management systems, closing out illegal landfills and dumpsites, and bolstering private sector recycling. In implementation of technical activities, WMTR is placing a heavy focus on public engagement, collaboration with local and international partners, local governments, and civil societies.
Below are details on selected activities implemented by the project:
1. Stakeholder Consultative Group
In May 2014, the team created a Stakeholder Consultative Group that includes representatives from state-level institutions, local nongovernmental organizations, private-sector partners, and international organizations. The group ensures constructive and effective cooperation between stakeholders and the project team so that the interests and needs of all stakeholder groups are considered while working on issues related to waste management and recycling. The group also serves as an advisory board for the four project components.
2. Eco-Camp competition
As part of the public awareness campaign, WMTR team held a school competition promoting recycling and waste reduction and an opportunity to attend a summer “eco-camp” to students in 60 schools. The aim of this effort was to promote best waste management and recycling practices among local communities of the program regions, including 37 eco-clubs in the Kakheti region and 15 eco-clubs in the Adjara region. WMTR reached out to selected schools with the targeted audience being those aged between 15 and 17 years (9th, 10th, 11th grades). Students created crafts from recycled household waste and submitted pictures of their work for the competition. As a result, 26 participants were selected for a 10-day summer “eco-camp” in Bulachauri where they participated in interactive seminars, discussions, and training in principles of waste management in the first half of August 2014. Following the “eco-camp”, WMTR organized an exhibition of crafts created by children in Tbilisi.
3. Assessments of Solid Waste and Recycling Sectors
In June 2014 WMTR deployed two international consultants to conduct initial assessments of the solid waste and recycling sectors in project regions. Based on these assessments, the project is working with local and regional authorities to develop an integrated waste management system that includes international sanitation standards, plans for efficient waste collection and transportation to landfills, separation of recyclable materials from solid waste and sorting by type and quality, and development of linkages between waste collection and recycling companies to ensure a consistent supply of recyclable materials by the landfill waste separation service.
WMTR is also moving forward with gathering data for the GHG accounting assessment with the help of ISC, a member of the ICMA CityLinks team, who are provide technical assistance and capacity-building expertise in greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting. ISC will be assessing GHG emissions from the existing municipal solid waste system and investigate recent and current GHG mitigation initiatives in the target regions and in Georgia for integration into the program’s environmental assessment and results.
ICMA also will establish CityLinks partnerships between municipalities in Georgia and cities or counties in the United States that can provide expertise and share innovative and practical approaches to environmental management, including solid waste collection and disposal, landfill siting, and recycling.
4. Developing Local Capacity
Like other USAID programs, the project is designed to develop local capacity to manage services in the future. It will provide grants to recycling companies and community-based organizations (CBOs) engaged in solid waste management and recycling to promote technological advancement and build their institutional capacity. The program will also provide grants to fund CBOs and schools so that they can implement waste management and recycling campaigns and activities. Overall direction of the project will transition to Georgian staff in the fourth year. As part of WMTR, ICMA is also working closely with its local partner CENN to build the capacity of its staff with the ultimate goal of CENN leading WMTR in 2018.
One of the main obstacles in the environmental sector of Georgia is lack of proper waste management practices, from the collection of waste to its disposal in landfills and recycling. To overcome these obstacles, WMTR will work with local and regional authorities on design of an integrated waste management system in line with international sanitation standards that encompasses efficient waste collection and transportation plans to landfills, separation and sorting of recyclable materials from solid waste, and developing linkages between waste collection and recycling companies to ensure a consistent supply of recycling materials by the landfill waste separation service. Additionally, the project will work with private sector recycling companies to build their capacity through improving marketing, product quality, and operations.
Solid Waste Management Sector Assessment
In June and July 2014 WMTR engaged an international solid waste management expert for assessment of a solid waste management sector. Over the course of three weeks, the expert worked closely with WMTR team and local stakeholders extensively traveling to the regions to collect and analyze the information. The Assessment Report on Solid Waste Management Collection and Recycling Systems that resulted from this activity provided a detailed picture of existing solid waste management practices and will serve as a foundation for shaping future program activities.
The Assessment showed that, in Georgia, solid waste collection is mostly carried out by municipality-owned cleaning companies. Despite the existing trash collection services, transportation cost prohibits cleaning companies from collecting garbage in remote areas. As a result, rural locations are severely underserved. In some municipalities as much as 80% of the area is not serviced. Aside from the transportation cost, low technical capacity and insufficient municipal funding can be added to the list. The quality of solid waste management services is hampered not only by the lack of equipment but also by low service fee revenues, limitations of the centralized funding mechanism, and poor solid waste management standards.
In line with the Assessment Report on Solid Waste Collection and Recycling Systems, WMTR will provide training and technical assistance on the development of Solid Waste Management Plans (SWMP) for target municipalities and cleaning companies. The SWMP will cover all elements of WMTR’s four components.
Currently, the quality of products produced from recyclable materials in Georgia is not adequate or marketable. For this reason, local businesses have to import better quality products like cardboard from Ukraine and Turkey. There exists a potential to collect more materials within Georgia, contingent on the improvement of the quality of recycled products, which will in turn increase the demand for local recycled products. To address this gap, the WMTR will be working with private sector recycling companies to assess their business operations and build their capacity through targeted technical assistance. The team will also work on the national level to enable a recycling business environment in Georgia and create an association or network of recycling companies. In July 2014, WMTR engages an international recycling expert to conduct the assessment of a recycling sector in Ajara and Kakheti. As a result of this study, WMTR produced a Recycling Sector Capacity Assessment and Project Plan. Based on the findings of the sector study, WMTR is also planning the following activities:
- Developing and implementing business plans for improving operations of recycling companies in target regions, increasing their revenues and/or reducing operational costs.
- Establishing business linkages established between waste collection and recycling companies.
- Supporting recycling companies in the deployment of modern and efficient equipment, improving the associated technical skills and introducing effective and efficient production processes to increase the quality of recycled products.
- Introducing energy efficient and other cost-saving technologies to mitigate GHG emissions, and conduct energy audits of recycling companies to reduce energy consumption and increase company revenues.
- Developing marketing plans for recycling companies, and improving marketing and labeling practices for recycled products to stimulate the demand on recycled products in Georgia.
- Introducing quality control systems to ensure product quality before the final products reach the market.
WMTR will work with local, regional, and national authorities on design of a proper waste collection tariff system that is key to maintaining and operating the waste management system. The project will closely with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia (MRDI) and other relevant institutions, local and regional authorities to assist in the development of a tariff for the targeted region. The project will conduct public hearings and the outreach campaigns to inform the local population about how tariff increase will result in the sustainability of the local waste management system which will in turn lead to improvements in their health and environmental conditions. This will include a “phase in” plan to accommodate change in public perception on the value of good waste management systems. Work with regional and local authorities and the MRDI to develop regional waste management policies and a strategy with strong public participation.
ICMA collaborated with ARCADIS, Stratus Consulting, the University of North Carolina, and Richard Atwater to identify and develop communication strategies and specific messages that utilities can use to gain support during their rate and budget approval process. To support the project, ICMA developed a survey instrument designed to collect information relative to water utility and governing board rate case communications. The survey was mailed to the chief administrative office (CAO) and chief elected official (CEO) in 6,194 municipalities across the country. Results from the survey helped guide the development of the Rate Approval Process Communications Strategy Toolkit and the Rate Communication Toolkit. These commmunication strategies and messages are complemented with a set of scalable and ready-to-use products to support utilities and governing boards throughout the process.
Funder: Water Research Foundation
Contact: Andrea Fox -- afox@icma.org
