New waste management code comes into force in December
What should manufacturers in Georgia know?
Manufacturers are required to be responsible on reducing negative environmental impact. Photo: N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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All manufacturers in Georgia who place a product onto the market will be obliged to reduce negative environmental impact that may follow its production, use, waste recovery or disposal.
This will be regulated by the new Waste Management Code that was adopted in Georgia in 2014 and enters into force from December 1, 2019.
The Waste Management Code is in compliance with the Extended Producers’ Responsibility, which is a new concept for Georgia.
150 people from international and donor organisations, private sector, chambers of commerce and business associations attended the presentation of the new Extended Producers’ Responsibility concept today. Photo: Ministry of Environment.
From December 2019 the manufacturers will be obliged to take care of: packaging waste (plastic, paper, cardboard, wood, metal, glass), electronic equipment, tires and transport taken from the consumption, used oils, used batteries and accumulators.
About 900,000 tonnes of municipal waste is created in Georgia annually, announced the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.
This waste contains up to 1000 non-hazardous and hazardous substances which pose a threat to human health and environment. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach to waste management successfully implemented throughout Europe. Under this tool, the producers and importers take a responsibility for the proper collection and treatment of specific waste", read the press release published by the EU Delegation to Georgia.
As this concept requires adequate awareness of the public and private sector the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia started meetings with the private sector to introduce the upcoming regulations.
The waste separation, collection and recycling pilot project was launched in Marneuli, Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide Georgia with €15 million for a solid waste management project in Tbilisi.
A total of 566 cases of violation of waste management code were recorded in 2018 in Georgia, announces the Environment Protection Supervision Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection.
80 recycling bins for glass, paper and plastic were installed on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi last night. Old litter bins were removed from the street.
European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell has challenged Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Minister of Agriculture Levan Davitashvili and Chairman of the Parliamentary Environment Protection Committee Kakha Kuchava to show how they are helping to minimise waste in the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has appointed the US citizen, former head of the Caucasus Nature Fund (CNF) with a previous 28-year career in law, David Morrison as Georgia’s Environmental Ombudsman.
Georgia is starting the restoration and development of Krtsanisi forest park as part of the new state programme for biodiversity recovery launched today.
The European Union (EU) is launching three new projects for environmental protection and climate change in Georgia, announces the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.
Georgia has developed a new forest and land use atlas in cooperation between the Environment Ministry and Global Forest Watch project. During a presentation of the map today, Georgian Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili said the atlas makes information on environmental protection more available than it was earlier.
Several members of parliament have initiated amendments to the code of waste management, according to which the individuals who deliberately burn municipal waste, including leaves, garden/park waste, domestic waste in the open air or inside an inappropriate burning device, will be fined by 500 GEL ($178).
The Georgian parliament has approved tougher penalties for violations of the Waste Management Code for polluting the environment with animal and inert (building, demolition waste, sand, gravel, stone) waste.
A new recycling service called Eco-Taxi offers Tbilisi residents the chance to have their recyclable waste picked up from work or home.
The Georgian capital city of Tbilisi will have its first waste treatment plant to improve solid waste management and disposal thanks to a new €26 million funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Green Climate Fund.