ArmInfo.Construction of garbage disposal sites will start in Yerevan and Hrazdan in the near future. This was announced on July 29 at a meeting chaired by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
As reported by the press service of the RA government, at the meeting, during which the waste collection strategy and its envisaged program of events were discussed, it was noted that the construction of landfills is carried out in cooperation with international partners. A two-year program for events has been developed. The planned measures are aimed at improving the quality of garbage collection services in the country, ensuring environmental standards, and introducing waste disposal mechanisms.
It was also noted that work is underway to replenish technical means, in particular, 59 units of equipment and 600 garbage cans have already been purchased. The strategy provides for the development of specific waste collection schemes from communities, the establishment of collection points, and the application of disposal procedures for construction waste.
The Prime Minister, pointing out the importance of organizing waste collection at a high level, noted that the strategy should fully solve this problem through the developed measures. Nikol Pashinyan especially stressed the importance of organizing waste collection in recreation areas, on the banks of rivers.
Earlier ArmInfo informed that the Eastern European Partnership for Energy Efficiency and the Environment (E5P), managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will grant Armenia a EUR 2 million for the construction of a new solid waste landfill for the Gegharkunik and Kotayk regions of Armenia. The corresponding agreement was signed on June 30 between the E5P and the Ministry of Finance of Armenia.
As the press service of the organization told ArmInfo, the program for the construction of a garbage landfill is the first EBRD project in the field of solid waste management in Armenia and is aimed at facilitating the plans of the Armenian government to modernize the sphere and bring it in line with European standards.
Work under the program, was launched in December 2014. The EBRD provided 3.5 million euros of loan funds, which in turn was supplemented by a grant of 3.5 million euros from the investment tool of the EU partnership. 8 communities will be included in the system of solid waste management, 7 of them in Kotayk region of Armenia and 1 in Gegharkunik. Already in 2016, the program was expanded by a sovereign loan from the EBRD of 2 million euros, which allowed the inclusion of all 7 Kotayk communities in the program, in particular, Hrazdan, Abovyan, Nor Akhen, Byurekhavan, Charentsavan, Yeghvard, Tsaghkadzor, as well as 5 communities Gegharkunik - Sevan, Vardenis, Gavar, Martuni and Chambarak, as well as cover all the communities of Gegharkunik.
The 2 million grant of the E5P fund, which will complement the EBRD loan of 2 million euros, will be used to co-finance marshalling yards, purchase lorries for the collection and transportation of garbage, garbage cans and other equipment and supplies. As a result, the total budget of the program is 11 million euros. According to the message of the Ministry of Finance, the funds provided will assist in the construction of a garbage landfill of solid domestic waste based on the use of modern management mechanisms that envisage the collection of waste in the territories of municipalities and their removal. The program will solve many social and environmental problems of the local population.
