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Description
The ‘One Stop Shop for Zero Waste - Local communities support circular economy’ project under the Environment Protection and Climate Change Programme, financed by the FM EEA 2014-2021 aims to introduce effective schemes for separate collection and utilization of household waste (paper, glass, metal, hazardous household waste, electrical equipment, textiles and green waste) in two municipalities - Kameno and Karnobat. The main objectives are the reduction of the waste generated and improvement of the qualities of the living environment in the two municipalities. This will include an evaluation of the consumption patterns in terms of waste generation, the specific characteristics of the local communities, waste flows and management capacities.
The project will also use the Norwegian experience to create municipal drop off sites for separate waste collection and establish a pilot model for public - private partnership introducing a local deposit system to foster separate collection of packing waste. Project activities include among others, the establishment of mobile centres for separate collection of household waste and provision of containers for green waste; as well as information campaigns for the public- information campaigns, press conferences, project Web site and an Interactive map with sites for separate waste collection, e-brochure for the project, campaigns in social media and measures for visualization aiming to achieve greater publicity and awareness.
The information about the project is available here: https://zerowaste-bg.eu/en/
Summary of project results
The main challenge that the project aimed to address was to contribute to increasing the share of recycled waste in the total share of waste generated. This will increase resource efficiency within the framework of the circular economy principle, as well as the competitiveness of Bulgarian business. In addition, the project also aimed at implementing measures to reduce the amount of waste generated, implementing municipal schemes for separate collection and recycling of waste in order to improve the quality of life and quality of environment, by reduction of waste deposited at land fills.
As a result of the implementation of the project, comprehensive models for assessing the consumption and trends in waste generation in the territories of the participating municipalities (Kameno and Karnobat) were developed, which provide a preliminary assessment of the impact of the planned municipal schemes for separate waste collection and recycling, monitoring tools and assessment, analysis of trends, forecasts and indicators for tracking trends. The models provided data and analyzes that were used in the development of municipal policies for environmental protection and waste management in the municipality of Kameno and the municipality of Karnobat. Thus, the instrumental capacity of the local administrations for planning and assessment of waste management systems at municipal level was improved.
In addition, municipal schemes for separate collection of household waste on the territory of Kameno municipality and on the territory of Karnobat municipality were introduced through the purchase, delivery and installation of mobile centres for separate collection of waste (3 for the municipality of Kameno and 1 for the municipality of Karnobat) and the allocation of 60 containers for green waste on the territory of Karnobat Municipality.
The mobile centres delivered within the project provide for the separate delivery of paper, glass, metal waste, hazardous household waste, electrical equipment, textiles green waste. They are equipped with electronic systems for real time reporting of quantities of the separately collected waste. The centres have an operator that ensures the provision of sufficient information and supporting the population as well to administer the separation process. There is also s self-service function which can be used after the working time of the operator to guarantee accessibility of service. The green waste containers in the municipality of Karnobat were installed next to the mixed waste containers of the municipality in order to enhance the separate collection of plant/wood waste.
The municipality of Kameno successfully implemented a pilot model for public-private partnership between the local government and the business for introduction of a system of incentives for consumers of food packaging. The model was introduced in retail markets, following the signing of a public-private partnership agreement and the installation of a 1 deposit vending machine for separate collection of cardboard, metal and paper waste. This pilot model provided opportunity to test the ability of local authorities, businesses and the public to implement separate waste collection systems by introducing incentives, a practice widespread and proven to work in countries such as Norway.
Two sites for utilization of biodegradable waste - one in the Municipality of Kameno and one in the Municipality of Karnobat were also established under the project. The sites will be equipped and will have the capacity to recover about 10% of the total amount of biodegradable waste in each of the two municipalities - partners under the project. This will lead to the fulfillment of the normatively determined obligations of the municipal administrations to organize the schemes for separate collection and subsequent recycling of biodegradable waste on their territories which will also contribute to the overall achievement of the objectives related to utilization of biodegradable waste for the territory of the Regional Association for Waste Management for the region of Burgas.
In order to raise public awareness on separate waste collection and recycling, during the project implementation, several press conferences and information campaigns occurred in the participating municipalities. On the project website an interactive map with the locations of the containers and the mobile centers for separate waste collection was also developed.
The main beneficiaries of the project impact are:
- Municipal administrations of Kameno Municipality and Karnobat Municipality - According to the Waste Management Act, municipal administrations are mainly responsible for the organization and implementation of waste management systems on their territory.
- The Regional Association for Waste Management - the Region of Burgas - Kameno and Karnobat Municipalities are members of the Association and as such they should take part in the achievement of the targets set for prevention, seperate collection and utilization of waste at regional level. The infrastructure developed under the project will become part of the regional system for waste management and all the actions of the municipalities shall be coordinated and in compliance with the functioning systems and facilities already at place. On the other hand the members of the Association will have access and will directly observe the results of the project achieved on the territory of the partnering municipalities. Project achievements have the potential and can be applied by other municipalities within the network of the Regional Association for Waste Management.
- The population of the municipalities of Kameno and Karnobat - The population of the partner municipalities is a direct beneficiary of the schemes for separate collection and recycling of waste introduced under the project. Benefits for local communities are measured by improvement of quality of life and quality of environment, by reduction of waste deposited at land fills. local communities also play a key role in the successful implementation of the project.
- Representatives of the local business on the territory of the Municipality of Kameno - Business is a key stakeholder as far as the project ambition is to test and introduce an effective public-private partnership model based on a system of stimulus motivating responsible behaviour. The role of business within the project is justified in two main directions - as a motivator and active participant in the implementation of initiatives for sustainable management of resources but also as a target group which shall be addressed in order to provoke change in behaviour and committement to the ecological challenges of the territory.
- Representatives of national, regional and local media - They perform a significant role in the overall communication strategy of the project contributing to its promotion, information flow and awareness raising.