TIRANA, Oct. 5 – The Municipality of Tirana has decided to transfer 22,000 square meters of land to a waste management company the city partially owns, hoping to jump-start recycling efforts.
The company, Eco Tirana, was established in May 2016, and will use the land that was previously known as the Park of Transport to “collect and transport waste materials and clean public spaces,” the municipality said in a press release.
The municipality owns 51 percent of the company.
“Taking into account the urgent need for the cleanup of the capital, we suggest the reallocation of the area to Eco Tirana. The company will be entitled to invest in the area for a period of 25 years,” according to the press release.
There has already been an outcry on social media by residents of the area who want any waste management site to be out of the city entirely.
The latest municipality decision comes at a time when the central government approved an initiative allowing the import of waste, a move which sparked anger among environmentalists and civil society.
Eco Tirana, was registered at the National Business Center as a public enterprise with the municipalities of Verona and Tirana as two key shareholders — 49 percent of the shares of the company belong to Holding AGSM Albania and 51 percent belong to Municipality of Tirana. Holding AGSM Albania is owned by AGSM Verona and Amia Verona.
The company’s administrators are Giampaolo Tessari, Andrea Miglioranzi, Diego Testi, Fabio Venturi, Maurizio Alfeo along with Taulant Tusha, Dorjan Shehu, Jonida Halili and Arbjan Mazniku.
Each of the administrators will have a three year contract in the joint venture whose job description also includes “management on behalf of third parties of plants used for recycling and destruction of waste materials.”
In the first 18 months of operations, Eco Tirana will manage a fund worth 2.5 million Euros. Ten percent of the fund will be used for a differentiated waste collection.
Eco Tirana will first target the so called “red area” which represents the center and some of the suburbs. This area generates 40,000 tons of waste or 20 percent of the total waste generated by the capital which exceeds 200,000 tons.
Starting from June 1, 2017, the company will also cover 50 percent of the territory of Tirana and by 2018, Eco Tirana plans to collect waste in the entire territory of Tirana.
This means that in the first year, the company will process, 20,000 tons of waste followed by 80,000 tons of waste in 2017 and 120,000 tons of waste in 2018. The company also plans to replace the existing 650 containers and garbage bins.
The company’s capital expenses for the first year are expected to be 1.8 million Euros and in five years will jump to 10.9 million Euros.
The news has also sparked fear that the municipality is merely switching clients in its contracts with private firms.
Tirana and the surrounding areas has a population of nearly 1 million residents.
Until some time ago, local authorities had assigned the task of cleanup to six enterprises that subcontracted other smaller companies. These companies collect waste based on a map that is divided in six areas. The municipality’s budget for clean up amounts to 10 million Euros.
So far the municipality has not been pleased with the clean up process as Mayor Erion Veliaj insisted that “Tirana needs to be cleaner and greener.”
Last year, Veliaj canceled two contracts with companies that had the worst performance in the clean up process and signed an agreement for the establishment of a joint venture with the municipality of Verona.
