24/01/2019 – „The Solid Waste Management Company of Georgia“ Ltd (SWMCG) and French-Slovenian consortium Sade-Riko signed the contract for the construction of the first EU standard regional landfill in Georgia.
The event was attended by the vice-premier and Minister of MRDI Maia Tskitishvili, deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Georgia Carlo Natale, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili, Head of Development Cooperation in South Caucasus of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Daniel Haas, the Director of SWMCG George Shukhoshvili and the Managing Director of “Sade Georgia” Anthony Mauger.
The regional landfill will be constructed in the vicinity of Kutaisi and will be the first EU compliant sanitary landfill in Georgia. It will be a regional landfill serving approximately 700 000 citizens of Imereti, Racha-lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions. Along with the arrangement of the EU compliant sanitary regional landfill, the project also foresees the closure of existing “Nikea” landfill located in Kutaisi, improvement of municipal waste collection, improvement street cleaning system and establishment of new transfer stations. Implementation of the above mentioned project will improve the ecological and living conditions of the region.
The first regional landfill will be constructed within scope of the project Integrated Solid Waste Management Kutaisi. The project foresees implementation of integrated solid waste management system in Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions. The project is financed with a loan provided by KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German Government (20 million Euros); by the EU (3.6 million Euros grant) and Georgian contributions (million Euros). Total investment of the project is 27 600 000 Euros.
“Integrated Solid Waste Management Kutaisi” project is implemented by the Solid Waste Management Company of Georgia Ltd, enterprise established in 2012. Since 2013, out of 54 landfills in its ownership, SWMCG has rehabilitated 31 into engineered landfills, closed 23 landfills; and additionally, arranged 5 transfer stations. These works have been carried out with the financial support of Government of Georgia. Municipalities, population and private sector will have to play an important role to ensure effective functioning of the new waste management system. From 2019 municipalities have the obligation to introduce effective waste management systems via at source separation, which has to be fully implemented by 2025.
Proper at course separation and disposal by the population are important components for the proper functioning of the system. Also private sector and companies will be obliged to find environmentally safe means to collect and recycle produced commodities. Above mentioned system is called “Extended Producer’s Responsibility” and its implementation is planned for the next two years.
