EU Hosts International Public Forum on Environment

A European Union-sponsored public forum entitled “Talking Environment” took place in Tbilisi this Sunday that gathered together over 400 representatives of all parts of society, including national, regional and local public officials, civil society members, students and engaged citizens to discuss waste management issues in Georgia.

The forum was organized in cooperation with the Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Solid Waste Management Company of Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall and the nonprofit Georgia’s Environmental Outlook (GEO).

The event was initiated after a recent poll conducted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Georgia found that nearly half (48%) of Tbilisi residents identify environmental pollution as the number one issue they face.

Each year Georgia generates some 900,000 tonnes of household waste, up to 600 kg per inhabitant, according to a press statement issued by the event. This waste includes up to 1,000 non-hazardous and hazardous substances which pose a grave threat to human health and the environment.

The forum was launched with statements given by Carl Hartzell, EU Ambassador to Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and Kakha Kuchava, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia.

“The EU is a global leader in environmental protection, and I am happy to see that environmental and health concerns are rapidly rising on the public agenda here in Georgia,” Ambassador Hartzell said. The EU, he continued, is proud to sponsor initiatives in Georgia that seek to provide clean air and water, build energy-efficient buildings, protect natural forests and create innovative approaches to waste management.

Ambassador Hartzell used the forum to launch a social media challenge to minimize waste, in which he challenged top government officials, including Minister Davitashvili, to switch out plastic shopping bags for ones made of cloth.

In his speech, Minister Davitashvili referenced recent achievements in the environmental sector, such as the Waste Management Codeadopted by Parliament in 2015, which the Minister called a “very important step” that established a solid legislative basis to deal with these issues in the future. Waste management, he continued, should be the responsibility of multiple ministries, such as the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs. Minister Davitashvili also stressed the vital role municipalities must play in collecting, sorting and processing waste.

MP Kuchava echoed Minister Davitashvili, saying that environmental issues must become Georgia’s number one priority moving forward. The Waste Management Code needs proper implementation, and air pollution in Tbilisi is another issue that needs additional attention. Georgians are an ambitious people, he concluded, and average citizens—and especially children—should be encouraged to turn their attention to tackling environmental problems.

The highlight of the forum was a presentation given by Maayke Damen, the founder of the Dutch company Excess Materials Exchange, which facilitates a process whereby companies exchange excess materials and transform them into additional products that have financial value on the marketplace.

Worldwide resource extraction is going to double over the next thirty years, Damen said, and there is a severe scarcity of vital minerals like iron and cobalt. Most industries and consumers operate within a linear economy, in which resources are extracted, products manufactured, used by consumers and then thrown out. Not only does this create vast amounts of waste, it also results in an enormous economic loss: some EUR 1.8 trillion in Europe alone, according to Damen.

Damen is a proponent of a circular economy that is “restorative and regenerative by design.” Instead of throwing products out or even recycling them via traditional methods already in place, Damen said that companies have a significant opportunity to transform their unwanted materials and products into financially-viable consumer products.

Damen’s company has to date identified 18 “materials streams” (such as used coffee grounds, carpets and orange peels) and works with both Dutch and international companies to reuse and remake those materials. Excess Materials Exchange’s work has resulted in an additional EUR 11-35 million in revenue for its partner companies and saved those companies EUR 5.5 million in waste processing costs. Those resources are enough to power all the lights in city of Amsterdam for over 10 years.

Following Damen’s presentation, a six-person panel of public officials and civil society actors participated in a question and answer discussion. Several of the issues touched upon were the landfill in Batumi, hazardous waste, the sorting of collected waste and the need for more awareness-raising campaigns among the general public.

Georgia, the Dutch entrepreneur Maayke Damen said, is uniquely positioned to be a pioneer in environmental policy and implementation. The European Union began developing its policies in the 1980s, she said, but made many mistakes along the way. Georgia, she continued, “has the opportunity to skip all the mistakes [Europe made in the past] and implement the policies we already know work.”

By Lucy Papachristou

Image source: Author's work