Minister Zirojevic and the Ambassador of Sweden to BiH, Mr. Bo William Hedberg signed the project “Municipal Program for Solid Waste Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina“

Today in Sarajevo, the project “Municipal Program for Solid Waste Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was signed. The project was signed by Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mr. Mladen Zirojevic, on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina and on behalf of Sweden by the Swedish Ambassador to BiH, Mr. Bo William Hedberg.

“Municipal Program for Solid Waste Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was initiated by the Government of Sweden in January 2010, with the main objective of introducing improved services in the municipal solid waste management in the country and reducing environmental and health risks related to poor solid waste management. The program will be implemented over four and a half years, with the budget of 100 million SECA (SEK), or 10 million euros.

Support includes capacity building in waste management at the state, entity and municipal level. The program provides financial assistance to municipalities - investments for the purchase of new and missing equipment for solid waste management. The program also provides assistance in preparing and conducting a campaign to raise awareness in the municipalities in both entities. The campaign will be run by the two entity ministries for environmental protection at the same time and will fulfill the request of the World Bank, through the implementation of the second phase of the World Bank loan for solid waste management in BiH. An amount of 7.5 million euros of the total project budget is intended for investments and the awareness campaign and 2.5 million euros for capacity building and consultancy services.

The program is being implemented in two phases. The first phase began in March 2010 and will be completed by the end of 2011. It focuses on 13 municipalities in two regions: Zenica (8) and Bijeljina (5). The second phase will include new regions and municipalities and about 30 - 35 new municipalities will be involved in program activities.

Project Steering Committee was established within the program, composed of representatives from the MFTER, Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska, World Bank, SIDA and the team of leaders of the consulting firm to coordinate and supervise the implementation of the overall program. At the regional level, regional committees have been established to facilitate coordination between the project teams at the municipal level.

The international consulting firm Grontmij – Carl Bro AS is responsible for overseeing all aspects of program implementation and building an institutional capacity. The program aims to achieve improved quality and availability of solid waste services, collection rate increase, waste reduction, recycling and reuse increase, reduction of the number of illegal dumps and environmental hazards and to make better use of regional landfills financed by the World Bank loan. A positive impact on general public health is expected. Good solid waste management is also a necessary condition for the integration process of BiH to the EU.

“Municipal Program for Solid Waste Management in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is a direct help in transposing and implementing the environmental acquis in the field of waste management.