INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION - Denkstatt

3.6.6. ISWA/UNEP Balkan Flowers Project
Another good example for intensified cooperation with
other International Organisations whose goals and
activities are related to ISWA’s is the so called “Balkan
Flowers Project”:
ISWA is currently in the early stages of a project in
cooperation with the UNEP Regional Office for Europe,
to develop an overview study of PET –plastic waste
recycling in the South East Europe sub-region with a
focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.
The project also aims to explore future policy development
and possible cooperation and exchange of knowledge
and information through sub-regional collaboration
in these three countries.
3.6.7. ISSOWAMA Consortium Project
In 2010 and 2011, as a consortium partner ISWA also
cooperated with other international non-profit
organisations and some universities and academic
institutes on a project called ISSOWAMA – Integrated
Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Asia Southeast.
The Balkan region has a remarkably high waste generation
of PET bottles compared to many other parts of Europe;
which are found floating in rivers, hanging in trees and
piling up in otherwise picturesque locations – sometimes
looking like bizarre flowers, which explains the project
title.
Some key challenges need to be overcome to promote
the recycling of waste in these regions, such as an inadequate
waste management system, low public
awareness and an undeveloped recycling sector. Croatia
is leading the way forward in this region of the Balkans,
with the recent implementation of promising tools that
are promoting the use of refillable bottles and collection
for one way packaging.
Asia is one of the world’s most densely populated
regions, which results in a tremendous output of solid
waste, a majority of which is poorly managed or not
managed at all. Rapid urbanisation in the region is
creating an increasing strain on overburdened infrastructure,
as well as higher demand on limited public
services.
ISSOWAMA was a first step to thoroughly examining
Solid Waste Management issues of eight numerously
populated Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Cambodia,
Thailand, China, Indonesia and the Philippines. The objective
of this project has been to develop a performance
assessment system for integrated management scenarios,
with a central focus on the integration of sustainability
aspects.
Throughout this project the consortium partners have
investigated and gained expertise in economic and social
situations in the target region, integration of low cost
community managed technologies, and institutional
and socio economic constraints.
As a result the consortium completed local projects in
South Asia, the greater Mekong Sub-region, and South
East Asia which represents nearly half of the world’s
population. A special issue of Waste Management
World is planned to showcase the ISSOWAMA project.
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