Waste management plans focus of OSCE-organized meeting in Montenegro

Adopting and implementing national and local waste management plans was the topic of a meeting organized jointly by the OSCE Mission and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, held in Podgorica on 9 November 2013.

The meeting informed local authorities about the on-going development of waste management plans, and provided them with an opportunity to hear from municipal leaders about the implementation  options available to them in their efforts to create a more efficient and sustainable system of waste management.

Opening the event, Waldemar Figaj, Acting Head of the OSCE Mission said, “Efficient and sustainable waste management is crucial for Montenegro, not only because a commitment to environmental principles is enshrined in its constitution, but also because tourism accounts  for around 15% of our national GDP. Co-operation between central and local authorities is crucial to the successful development of sustainable waste management plans.”

Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Branimir Gvozdenovic, stated that Montenegro had to clearly define its roadmap in order to create a better waste management sector, as well as introducing new ideas and new quality.

Senior Ministry representatives stressed that strategic objective of the increased co-ordination between authorities was to have waste perceived as a material resource in Montenegro, to be recycled and re-used, rather than just a burden on the relevant authorities, and that this required a change of attitude.

Statements were also made by Daliborka Pejovic, State Secretary for Environment, Sinisa Stankovic, Director of the Ministry’s Sector for Waste Management and Communal Infrastructure Development, as well as presentations by the Mayors and Chief Administrators from sixteen of Montenegro’s twenty one municipalities.