National Conference “The Waste Management Service: lessons and findings after the Territorial Administrative Reform”

The developments after the Territorial Administrative Reform, such as the new law on local government, decentralization strategy, the new draft-law on local finances and the waste management are facing the challenges that are encountering the local level in achieving strategic objectives in the framework of the national strategy. 

DLDP has been part of national discussions and has contributed directly in the implementation of the national strategy in the waste sectors, such as: planning, education, resources as well as through suggestions and improvement of the national legislation.

In continuity of the consultative platforms, on June 15, 2016, dldp, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment organized the national conference “Waste Management Service: lessons and findings after the Territorial Administrative Reform”.

In this important meeting participated chairmen from 61 local government units, public service experts on waste in the LGUs, ministries engaged in the waste management sector, programs and donors with a focus on supporting waste sector.

The conference opening remarks were held by the Vice-minister of Environment, Mrs. Olijana Ifti, who explained the objectives of the conference for the discussion of best practices and the instruments developed to respond as best as possible to the consolidation of the territorial administrative reform, as well as to publicly present the draft-decree on costs and tariffs of waste management, as an instrument for experts in national and local level. According to Mrs. Ifti, until now the scheme did not function as it should have, and for this a series of legal changes have been made and a review of the management scheme will be made, where it is to be imposed a new tariff for households for the management of this waste. In her remarks, she stressed that: “The promotion and implementation of collection schemes or separation of waste at the source which is the first and main step in this process. No doubt the public education is another direction for the achieving of standards. The increase of the tariff is the implementation of the principle “the polluter pays”, to respond to the cost for waste management. No doubt that a regulatory body on waste must be established, this would establish the tariff in cooperation with the new municipalities”.

Mrs. Debora Kern, representative of the Swiss Embassy in Albania, in her remarks stressed the current achievements with the support of the Swiss Government through its implementing program, the dldp, to improve waste management in local level as well as in policies in national level.

Dldp has achieved that the model developed for costs and tariffs to improve budgeting and increase income for LGUs and through this activity to be widely consulted. Also there are developed recycling, composting and reuse models, as well as curricula of the relevant trainings, which are under an evaluation process after the Territorial Administrative Reform through new piloting practices. However, issues to be resolved remain, such as waste processing, even though there is an elevated interest of the international factor in the waste management sector.

During the conference, the participants followed with interest presentations made from the international expert Felix Shmidt, who presented the model of the costs of the landfills illustrated also with the case of Bushat landfill. Meanwhile, dldp expert, Mr. Arben Kopliku, made a presentation of the preparation of local plans based on the performance system, according to the new law on the organization of local government. Special attention was paid to the public hearing on the Draft Decree “On rules for determining costs and tariffs of urban waste management, presented by Mrs. Lediana Karalliu, Environment Ministry expert. According to this draft, the waste management will be left to local units and when they don’t have financial means the Environment Ministry will intervene. The tariffs model will be resolved by local government. The draft establishes through a formula the way of calculating the tariff, which will respond to the cost a municipality will incur for waste management, from the trash collection bins to their depositing in the landfill.

Responding to new challenges in the waste management sector, experts of the field presented the best practices as cases from which lessons could be learned. There were presented best practices on waste management in beach areas by Shkodra Municipality, waste management in rural areas by Lezhë Municipality and cost calculation of the landfills and plans to rehabilitate existing landfills by municipalities of Malësi e Madhe, Pukë and Dibër, illustrated with the case of Bushat Municipality.

Dldp considers the organization of such consultative platforms extremely important for assuring sustainability and the possibility for anchoring such instruments which will be further consolidated through piloting in partner LGUs, and elsewhere.