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Georgia’s mountain regions have seen a rising problem of solid
waste over recent years, mainly due to increasing population levels,
growing tourism, and a rise in living standards. The New Waste
Code, enacted in 2015, obliges municipalities across the country
to prepare SWM plans by the end of 2017, which include the
planning of equipment, collection schemes, and integration with
other systems including spatial planning.
In the municipality of Mestia (the main town in the mountainous
Upper Svaneti region), the government-owned Solid Waste
Management Company is planning to set up a transfer station for
municipal solid waste from the town and surrounding villages in the
region. The plan is for the waste, once processed, to be transported
to Zugdidi, 130 km away. The new regulations are expected to be
challenging for the municipal authority, due to the burden posed
on the municipal budget as a result of the high costs associated
to waste management in mountain regions and a general lack
of capacity. The situation in the more remote mountain villages
might prove even more challenging, where there are practically no
waste containers, and collection and removal of the waste is either
ill-organized or absent at all. The conditions of the roads in these
places is rather poor, making it impossible for the waste trucks to
reach certain villages during the bad weather conditions.
One possible cost-effective option for villages, currently proposed
by the Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia,
is to set up a series of mini transfer stations in these more
remote villages, using existing means and input from the local
communities. These stations would provide temporary storage
for a period of between 3 to 6 months (depending on the size
of the community and amount of waste generated), after which
the municipal services would collect the waste and transport to
the main transfer station in Mestia. Each station would include
a waste segregation/separation area, allowing for the sorting
of recyclable materials. Primary processing equipment, such as
balers or compactors, could also be installed within, allowing
the recyclable materials to be pressed – which has the benefit of
reducing the volume and increasing available space, and making
it more attractive for recycling companies to purchase. Such
installations would be easy to operate after a short training.
CASE STUDY
Mini-transfer stations for solid waste in Georgia’s mountain villages
Mestia, Georgia.
Photo
©
Wikimedia/Archil Sutiashvili