Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

CASE STUDY

Mini-transfer stations for solid waste in Georgia’s mountain villages

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.

Mestia, Georgia. Photo © Wikimedia/Archil Sutiashvili

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