Representatives of local public authorities from Ungheni, Nisporeni and Calarasi rayons and the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Ministry of Environment and Centre Regional Development Agency participated during the period 23 to 28 November 2014 in a study visit to Romania on waste management. The study visit was financially supported and organized by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction within the project ‚Modernization of local public services in the Republic of Moldova’.
During the study visit, participants got familiar with the lessons learned and progresses made by the public authorities of Arges, Sibiu and Mures counties in the development of waste management systems in accordance with European standards.
In addition to meetings with representatives of specialized offices of the three county councils and inter-municipal development agencies, the programme of the visit included field trips, where are located various elements of the infrastructure for waste management, as well as regional landfills, the irregular enclosed, transfer, sorting, composting stations etc. Thus, the participants had the opportunity to find out how regional waste management systems work and benefit from practical information and a number of recommendations made by specialists, experts and businesses in Romania, which are directly involved in the planning, creation and operation of these systems.
On the last day of work, the team from the Republic of Moldova has benefited from the opportunity to meet representatives of the Association of Packaging and Environment from Romania and the EcoRom Packaging, who described the mechanism based on the principle of extended producer’s responsibility, which allows reducing the amount of packaging waste.
Representative of Ungheni Rayon Council, Adela Gorun, says: ‘It is important that the received information is transmitted to LPA representatives who did not have the chance to participate in this study visit and lessons learned from our colleagues in Romania in the process of creating SWM systems must be taken into account’.
Representative of Calarasi Rayon Council, Boris Cucu, said :‘The opportunity to see live what is solid waste management infrastructure developed in accordance with European standards, changed my perception on how we need to further develop this sector’.
In turn, the Deputy Mayor of Vărzăreşti, Nisporeni, Gorceag Chiril, says: ‘As a result of this visit, we understood why it is important to promote cooperation between municipalities and that if there is desire and political will, it is possible to overcome obstacles that currently seem insurmountable’.
The three rayons that participated in the visit, Ungheni, Nisporeni and Calarasi, plan, in accordance with the national strategy and regional waste management strategy to create a common system of waste management. Currently, Centre Regional Development Agency with the technical assistance of GIZ supports these efforts by developing a feasibility study.
Regarding solid waste management, GIZ supports two pilot investment projects: for Soldanesti and Rezina rayons and Floresti rayon, implemented by Centre Regional Development Agency, North respectively. However, with the assistance of GIZ, Centre and North regions have adopted Regional Sector Programmes in solid waste sector – aimed to promote attracting investment in the sector.
The project ‘Modernization of local public services in the Republic of Moldova’ is implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ and is financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Union.
