Austria leads Europe in environmental practices.

Recently, on the 8th of July, a delegation from the Georgian Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture visited Vienna, Austria. Their visit involved stops at many institutions including the Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria). The purpose of the trip was to study the advanced European practice in waste management focusing on extended producer responsibility in Austria. The EU Twinning project led by the Environment Agency Austria has developed a modern waste management act and this principle will now to be implemented in Georgia as well. This is also successfully contributing to fulfill the terms of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the area of waste management

All involved Austrian institutions were given a special thanks for the valuable information and inspiration provided to the Georgian delegation by Deputy Minister Solomon Pavliashvili. Georg Rebernig, Managing Director of the Environment Agency Austria had this to say, " Austria has a long-standing experience in implementing the principles of modern waste management in Europe, and we are pleased to provide again our support to Georgia for successful implementation of its partnership with the European Union”.

The Waste Management Directorate of the Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism met with the delegation led by Deputy Minister Pavliashvili and discussed important topics. They spoke about packaging waste with the producers responsibility organisation ARA and the clearing house VKS. They also spoke about  electronic reporting and registers with the Environment Agency Austria. The principles and practical conditions of waste management in cities like Salzburg and Vienna were introduced and explained. The waste management association of Pongau in the mountainous countryside of Austria were also shown as a model for organizing waste management in areas with similar geographic features in Georgia.

The delegation also had the opportunity to visit waste treatment installations and recycling centers in Vienna and Salzburg to provide a detailed description about the advanced practice of recycling construction waste in which Austria is one o the leading countries in the European Union. DRZ, an organization where long-term employed people are trained in manual dismantling, repairing and upcycling electrical waste and electronic equipment demonstrated the socio-economic aspects of waste management.

Source and Reference.

https://www.umweltbundesamt.at/en/news_events_reports/news_eaa/en_news_2019/news_en_190708/