7-9 June 2011, Plock, Poland. Between 7 and 9 June 2011, Plock’s International Training Centre for Local Actors (CIFAL Plock) held a 1-day conference and 2-day workshop on Sustainable Management of Solid Waste. Hosted within the Municipality of Plock (Poland), the conference provided the opportunity to waste management practitioners from Poland and abroad to present case studies and discuss challenges that many municipalities from Central and Eastern Europe are confronted with nowadays. During the event gathering close to 120 participants, experts explored current trends in management of solid waste, dealt with topics such as turning waste into a resource (under the motto “don’t waste the waste”), and presented on the ways some of the most advanced countries in terms of waste management - Sweden and the Netherlands – deal with the 4R rule: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover. Participants also looked into the technical solution at hand today to manage waste in the most appropriate way, taking into account local conditions. The participation of a representative from Veolia Environmental Services, who presented on public-private partnerships of the Company in Poland, contributed to enrich the debate that took place between speakers and the audience, with a variety of different backgrounds and point of views.

The 2-day workshop held in the wake of the conference gathered 30 participants from 10 different countries of Central and Eastern Europe, representing municipalities but also governmental agencies, NGOs and the private sector. Participants had the opportunity to share their experience while developing towards more sustainable ways of managing waste – including hazardous waste. 

Participants evaluated the situation their city face regarding waste management vis-à-vis specific practices (economic and financial governance, monitoring and evaluation of the quality of waste management, environmental protection, risk management and safety, etc.), and compared results in order to ensure cross learning from each other. Specific waste management-related issues were further dealt with in group discussion, namely how to improve multi-stakeholder participation and community involvement, and how to implement waste-to-energy solutions for more sustainability at the local level.

The events were organized under the patronage of the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Regional Development, with the financial support of Veolia Environnement and ZUOK, and the organizational support of the Centre for Public-Private Partnership and Eco-Maz.

For more information on UNITAR Local Development and CIFALs training events see http://www.unitar.org/event/; for more information on CIFAL Plock see http://www.cifalplock.eu/.