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BtF – Revision of decentralization strategy and Waste Management meeting 29 August 2022

Félix Schmidt

CSD Engineers

Tirana

29.08.2022

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Functions and services : WM situation

Territorial reform, from 373 to 61 Municipalities, was a big and positive step for the efficiency of ISWM
Population coverage rate with waste services is increasing

Satisfaction of the population in Solid Waste Management (47%) and Cleaning of the City (44%) is on the same level than the average of the other services
Investments :

3 incineration plants in construction/operation
KfW Masterplan and foreseen investments in 10 Waste Zones

- Waste collection in touristic areas and times remains a challenge

Circular economy : ambitious EU requirements, low level presently in the field

Recovery and recycling are at a low level
Few experiences (GIZ) in composting: only local, mainly with agriculture organic waste

Inert and demolition waste: bad/not organized, few local solutions and directives, few control

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Functions and services : main challenges

The main challenges are the following:

The future national and donors investments are important loans :

they have to work efficiently
they are based on regional Waste Zone organization:

the set up of this regional organization is a country challenge
the organization, finance and implication of the LGU have to be developed and implemented
they will need additional operation resources, financial, but also HR.

The existing waste to energy plants are also important engagement of the country :

They have to run properly and produce electricity
Their proper functioning needs a sufficient Higher Heating Value (HHV), coming from plastics and paper, which is in opposition with the recycling objectives.

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Functions and services : challenges and recommendations (I)

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Different regional organization: Qarks, Municipal and Water Zones	Check the relevance of having different regional organizations
In each WZ, a regional organization must be developed to manage the regional activities/plants	Define the institutional model, governance, funding and rules of the WZ organization and the integration of the LGU in the decisions, management and finances Define the obligation, or not, of the LGUs to adapt their LWMPlans to the Regional one. Define the obligation, or not, of the LGUs to use the regional solutions. Define the possible or mandatory roles of the Waste Zones in terms of transport, treatment, inert and construction waste, hazardous waste, and/or services to the LGUs
Waste management in the touristic area and times is to improve and finance	Define which level is responsible for the management of the WM in the touristic area and times

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Functions and services : challenges and recommendations (II)

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Incineration needs sufficient Higher Heating Value (HHV)	Harmonize circular economy with incinerators and tasks repartition in the regions concerned by incineration. Analyze the integration of local, regional or national responsibilities in the development of a collection system for high HHV waste like residues of the treatment of construction waste (wood, plastics), waste oil, toxic waste (solvents), animal residues, tires, etc.
Role and responsibilities of Municipalities	Within the next new law on integrated waste management clarify the power of making regulations, controlling and sanctioning by public agents in the domain of local and regional waste management and more generally of environment.
Improve data management	Enforce the application of existing legal framework on waste statistics (DCM already in place) and reporting; enforce the obligation for the LGUs, regions and treatment/disposal facilities and recycling industry to report the data to the national authorities based on approved methodologies and deadlines. Strengthen the role and obligations of Municipalities and Regions in the data acquisition and transmission.

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Environment and climate change

Priorities for the Environment Protection = water, air, biodiversity
Priorities for the Climate mitigation = Methane from landfills and dumpsites
For the Environment and climate change perspective, priorities are

the emissions of landfill, dumpsites and treatment plants (incineration)
the management of hazardous waste and inert/construction waste

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Dumpsite closure and rehabilitation	Integrate in the WZ organization, functions and budget a team of experts in charge of the rehabilitation works and the closure of the dumpsites
Management of hazardous waste and inert, construction and excavation waste	Define which authority is responsible for the organization, operation and control of the collection, transport and treatment of the hazardous waste. the inert, construction and excavation waste

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Finance

Investments

LGU are generally not able to fund the local investments required (transfer station, dumpsite rehabilitation, etc.) and even the ones necessary to reduce the operation cost (efficient bins and trucks system).
Funding of investments is unclear: In some cases, the CG finance part of the services for some LGU and not for the others: transport (Durrës), gate fee, cleaning of touristic areas, …

Operation

Annual budget and tariff often not based on planning and objectives
Insufficient cost coverage : 60 % of present services cost
New CG and donor (KfW, SECO, WB, EU etc.) regional investments, operation and transport will need increased tariff.
Insufficient billing efficiency and poor client register.

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Finance : challenges and recommendations

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Funding of WM investment	Clarify and define a unique policy for the funding of waste management investment at local, regional and national level
Funding of WM operation	Clarify and define a unique policy for the funding of waste management operation at local, regional and national level Define a policy concerning the cost repartition between the LGU and obligations for the funding of WZ regional activities
Financing the cleaning of touristic areas	Define a policy for the financing of the cleaning of touristic areas and times using the of EPR principle.
Cost transparency of regional treatment plants and landfills	Define which authority oversees the budget and fee definition of the landfill/treatment plants and to control whether the billed service is effectively provided or not.
Data and billing system	Introduce a unique national client register, including families and business, and as much as possible a unique billing system for fees and tariffs (water, waste, energy,…) Introduce a link between the client register and the property register (GIS type) in order to facilitate the control and updating of data Geographic Information System

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Human Resources : a challenge for WM

There is a clear lack of LGUs professional management, planning, tender and contract management, supervision of the operation of both private and public service companies.

In each LGU there are often only one person in charge of WM, this is not enough

Same in financial planning, tariff definition and collection. The existing tools are often not use due to lack of capacity.
The lack of professionalism and resources in planning and control will generate a high risk of efficiency degradation and increased costs.
The new regional organizations and plants will need additional professional resources.

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Human Resources : a challenge for WM

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Develop and finance a regional team of professionals	In each WZ, a regional organization must be developed to manage the regional activities. This organization requires professionals. It might be interesting to analyze the possibility of developing this organization as a public Regional Service Provider which could provide services to the LGU: cost calculation, optimization, budget, tariff, tenders, contracts, dumpsite rehabilitation, etc. Such public Regional Service Provider could have a role in the HR capacity building, exchange of experience between professionals. The LGUs could, or could be forced to, delegate part of their tasks to the public Regional Service Provider.
Building professionals capacities	Capacity building based on ASPA training curricula developed on the best experiences in the Country for planning, funding, implementation and monitoring. Establishing a certification system for managers of solid waste management activities at local and regional level Organize and develop a functional Forum in the ISWM sector gathering LGUs, regional and national entities and private sector, in order to exchange experiences, tools and capacity building.

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Local Economic Development

Role of the informal sector

The informal sector is providing an important contribution to waste recycling.
The flow of these activities is certainly important but out of the national statistics.

Role of the private sector

The waste management services are often delegate to the private sector

This needs a professional tendering, control and supervision in order to minimize the risks of monopoly

Business, markets, shops, restaurants, touristic economy, etc. should play an important role in the Waste Management activities, in application of the “polluter-pays” or EPR principles

Organize a “at source” separation of their own recyclable material and organic waste and have a direct contract with a private recycling company for the collection and treatment.
Organize an “at source” separation of their recyclable materials and provide facilities to the informal sector for the collection of such waste.
Offer this service to their clients for the waste produced by the selling products.

Recycling and composting of “at source” separated materials produce a better product quality, and create local jobs, but needs to be financed.

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Local Economic Development : �challenges and recommendations

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Develop the implication and responsibility of the private sector in WM	Define the power of Municipalities, or regions, to establish legislation on the application of EPR principle in their territory in order to integrate the private sector and producers in the Waste Management activities
Develop the activities efficiency of the informal sector	Analyze and if possible define the role of the municipalities in the planning, coordination and facilitation of the collaboration between the municipalities, the recycling industry and the local informal sector.
Develop composting and recycling activities at the local level	Integrate policy and incentivize composting and recycling activities at the local level
Integrate the recycling waste quantities of the informal sector in the national statistic	Define obligation of the recycling industry to communicate data on the accepted quantities and organize the data management, in order to integrate this waste stream in the EU directive requirements.

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Strengthening good governance at the local level, EU integration, and anti-corruption

Information and consultation, public participation.

Today, there is an insufficient use of the opportunities given by new digital technologies and social media platforms to communicate with the population and local actors.
Population should be informed and consulted when defining the services, the LWMP, the tariff structures and billing system, the rules for good and bad practices, etc.
Population should be integrated in the supervision of the quality of the service, in particular through the implication of their representatives, or through the using of apps.
Population must participate in the efforts of “at source” separation of waste, waste reduction and at home composting of reduction of organic waste, etc.
The business and construction companies must be informed of their role and obligations (rules) in “at source” separation and good practices in the delivery of waste, in tariffs and billing system, penalties in case of bad practices, etc.
The private sector has to be informed and prepared to the future tenders and opportunities of collaboration in order to be prepared to provide the best competitive solutions.

Weak enforcement mechanisms

Waste management activities reveal the lack of transparency and procedures not fully compliant with legal requirements.

EU directives

The service to the population does not fulfill with the standards of the national strategy or EU directives.

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Strengthening good governance at the local level, EU integration, and anti-corruption

Challenges	Possible contribution of Dec. Strategy
Transparency and anti-corruption	Define standards service and cost indicators Organize transparent benchmarking on the national and regional levels for service indicators, cost and tariffs, tender results and purchases. Implement enforcement mechanisms to ensure the cost coverage at the local level;.
Public participation and information	Use digital technologies to inform and involve citizens in improving the quality of service delivery. Develop standardized Apps for presenting the Municipal WM activities and facilitate the public information and participation to the service supervision.
EU integration	Harmonize national legislation with EU directives and other legal requirements for different waste streams, ensuring that the enforcement of the approved legislation should be the priority.

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ISWM Sector contributions

Not all the challenges of the Waste Management can be solved through the Decentralization strategy.

A lot of challenges have to be considered by the ISWM sector himself.

These recommendations are not presented here but are considered in the BtF report.

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What is expected to be achieved within next 7 years ?

…if all our recommendations will be considered and measures implemented ?

We’ll have 10 Waste Zone organizations, controlled by a board of municipal representatives and professionals:

Operating the regional treatment plants and transports (directly or by delegation)
Offering professional services to LGUs
Controlling and optimizing the quality of service in the region
Financed by municipal fees and EPR (private contribution)
Organizing the hazardous, inert, construction and excavation waste management

The dumpsites are closed, the environment is protected

No more waste in the river, lakes and sea, no methane emissions

The operation of landfill, incineration and treatments plants is efficient and controlled

The treatment of gas, water and smokes is efficient

The private sector is providing “at source” recycling services based on EPR principle
A specific organization is managing the cleaning of Touristic Area (financed by EPR)
A national/regional system collect high Higher Heating Value and toxic waste and transport it to the incinerators to produce electricity.
A national client data base, a tariff collection system allows to collect sufficient revenues to cover the cost.
A professional WM capacity building system is offered by ASPA

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Thanks

Thanks to all colleagues Who participate to these propositions,

and in particular :

Ornela Shapo,
Blendi Bushati,
Mihallaq Qirjo,
and the BtF team.

Thanks for your attention