Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network, POLAND

Transcription

1 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network, POLAND ECOPOL Conference - Parallel session Part 1 : Applying eco-innovation policy practices in a different context: WASTE & RECYCLING Athens, October 22th 2013

2 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network, Theme: Waste & Recycling, Country: POLAND Short Description: OBJECTIVE: to adopt an example of the best practice from Austria consisting in establishing a support instrument on regional level in a form of a network of professionals in the area of municipal waste management POLISH REGION: Voievodeship of Silesia ROLE OF THE NETWORK: to provide advise and consulting to municipalities and other actors of regional and local waste management systems on the most urgent topics related to effective, efficient and innovative municipal waste management including technological, legal, organsational issues

3 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Theme: Waste & Recycling, Country: POLAND Partners involved: Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice co-author of the National Master Plan for Waste Management Silesian Union of Municipalities and Districts implements a project Support for the Municipalities of the Silesia Voievodeship in implementing the new waste management system Support from the Marshall Office and Ministry of Environment

4 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network The region : Silesian Voievodeship The largest urbanised area in the Central-Eastern Europe Population: over 4,64 milion inhabitants, (12.2% of Poland's population) Poland s highest density index 377 people/km2 167 municipalities including 49 urban, 22 urban/rural and 96 rural. High degree of urbanisation : almost 79% of Silesians live in 71 cities 13% of Poland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

5 Political context for the Pilot Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network In April 2013 a new Waste Law has been adopted in Poland which has become effective since July The new law makes a change in municipal waste management systems at local level Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 29 May 2012 sets new recycling and recovery targets for paper, glass, metal, plastic to be achieved for individual years : % 12% 14% 16% 18% 20% 30% 40% 50% Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 25 May 2012 sets target levels for reducing the amount of biodegradable waste disposed at landfills: until less than 50% of the total mass of biodegradable waste generated in 1995 until 2020 less than 35% of the total mass of biodegradable waste generated in Under new law municipalities are directly responsible for meeting these targets!!!!

6 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for regional municipal waste management (1/2) Improve system organisation: How to seal the municipal waste management system so that it covers all residents waste declarations Improve recycling effectiveness : How to intensify selective waste collection in order to meet the requirements of the new law? recycling in dedicated regional installations Improve technology base: How to increase the innovation level of waste treatment installations to reduce landfilling of biodegradable waste? requirement by law- at least BAT standard

7 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for regional municipal waste management (2/2) Improve public awareness: How to make local communities better responsive? responsibility of municipalities to organise and launch public campaigns Improve knowledge base of local authorities: How to improve the knowledge of local authorities so that they make more informative decisions? assistance via training, networks, exchange of best practices, professional associations Build an outlook for the future: new comsumption patterns, unclock the potential of waste management (waste as resource, new business models), zero waste regional policies innovation policies of the regions, clusters, networks, etc.

8 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Gaps addressed Lack of professional knowledge and expertise at local level (municipalities, local actors of waste management system) on how to deal with organisation of municipal waste management in the new legal reality Lack of a point of contact and access to relevant technological, legal and organisational expertise which exists in the region but is scattered (R&D, innovation centers, universities, clusters,business environment organisations, experts in municipal organisations etc) A link is missing between local and regional waste management systems and the resource and energy efficiency policies to be implemented at regional level in the new financial perspective

9 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for setting up the network & their solutions (1/2) Challenge 1 - Identify candidate network members interest of some Municipal Offices, members of the Task Force on Waste Management by the Silesian Union of Districts and Municipalities, institutions of regional character and research units and academia, innovation centers, clusters etc. The network will consist of ca 30 members : representatives of 11 municipal offices : Zabrze, Sosnowiec, Pszczyna, Jastrzębie Zdrój, Katowice, Bielsko-Biała, Ruda Śląska, Knurów, Gierałtowice, Mysłowice, Rybnik; representatives of regional institutions: e.g. Voievodeship Fund of Environmental Protection, Legal Supervision Department of the Voievodeship Office, Voievodeship Sanitary Inspection, Regional Environmental Agency, Regional Chamber of Auditors etc.; representatives of key research organisations of the region involved in R&D&I activties focused on waste management 3-4 independent experts with expertise in technological, legal and public involvement issues of municipal waste management Proposed supporting partners: Silesian EcoCluster, Silesian Waste Management Cluster, Municipal Cluster of Częstochowa Definite official declaration of membership initiating launching of the network expected in December

10 Challenge 2 : Work out a pool of knowledge and expertise within the network that would correspond to the actual current but also future needs of the municipal actors 2 surveys: Survey 1 identification of key problems and issues / gaps in knowledge /expertise needs occurring in individual municipalities in relation to the implementation of the new waste management system. Survey 2 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for setting up the network & their solutions (2/3) on the use of innovative waste treatment installations at municipal level and technology needs with special focus on installations for thermal treatment of municipal waste ( in line with smart specialization of the region: energy technologies) Results provided feedback on the themes to be addressed at the 3 training workshops for the experts

11 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for setting up the network & their solutions (1/3) Challenge 3 : Work out a sustainable mechanism which would increase their knowledge base and professional competences 3 trainings for the intersted potential members of the network : Legal aspects of the new municipal waste management system in Poland (4 July 2013) Technological and technical aspects of the new municipal waste management system in Poland (2 September 2013) Development of a new municipal waste management system at local level : improving the effectiveness of selective collection, system monitoring and public awareness building (30 October 2013)

12 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Major challenges for setting up the network & their solutions (3/3) Challenge 4: Work out a good strategy for the network activities corresponding with the actual needs in the region to reach the expected impact organisation of several working meetings and consultations with municipal/regional actors Challenge 5: Ensure that the network continues and develops after ECOPOL project is over find out a funding mechanism (regional/national funds of environmental protection) Challenge 6: Ensure interest of the consultants to work in the network obtain official delegations of experts from their home institutions, offering further extension of skills and competences, new trainings on new, emerging topics OFFICIAL LAUNCHING OF THE NETWORK PLANNED FOR DECEMBER 2013

13 Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Expected Results and Eco-Innovation effects: A network of professionals in waste management created based on local/regional potential Improved knowledge base at municipal level on building effective, efficient and up-to-date waste managements systems taking into account innovation aspects Improved access to different areas of expertiese on municipal waste management Mechanism for conveying innovation messages into local waste management systems established (technological and non-technological innovations, raising consumers awareness, developing consumer behaviour to reduce waste, closing material cycles, waste to energy, waste to materials etc.) Raising confidence in innovations and support for informative choices of local waste management actors Building local and regional capacities of the Silesia Voievodeship for implementation of ecoinnovations in waste management

14 Clues to utilise in other countries : Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Recognise the real need for this effort and overall political and legal framework Establish cooperation with an organisation already linked to waste management actors at local level which is already recognised by them Identify the strategy for the network that matches the regional /national challenges/ regional specialisation goals Fine-tune the consultation themes: e.g. in countries/regions with more advanced waste management systems in terms of innovation the topics will be different than in Central European countries /regions requiring maybe some more basic advice Ensure the interest in the network development and functioning both from the supply and the demand side ( offering development of professional training to consultants, ensuring adequacy and quality of the offered expertise, building recognition of the network and its members, establishing its expert reputation in the region, linking the network with a recognised organisation)

15 Lessons learned: Pilot: Waste Management Consultants Network Regional authorities must be involved early in the process so that they understand the effort and its objectives Clear cooperation principles for the consultants originating from the municipal offices must be defined so that the mayors are aware that the consultants will provide expertise also to other municipalities Candidate network consultants must declare officially their involvement in the network and willingness to develop their professional skills and to share their skills and knowledge with other actors The network must be built upon experts who already have a reputation and are not new players in the region

16 Thank you for your attention Izabela Ratman-Kłosińska Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas ul Kossutha Katowice, Poland phone ext. 243 fax rat@ietu.katowice.pl