US cities - Catawba County (North Carolina) and the City of Golden (Colorado) will help their Georgian

 

counterparts – Telavi (Kakheti region) and Batumi (Adjara region) cities – to improve waste management and recycling practices under the City-to-City Exchange Program,  which is implemented within the scope of the USAID funded program – Waste Management Technologies in Regions (WMTR).

The City-to-City Exchange Program, a professional cooperation initiative in the field of solid waste management between Georgian and US cities, was officially launched on March 2-6 between Telavi City and Catawba County, and on March 9-13 between Batumi City and the City of Golden.

US counterparts with extensive experience in sustainable waste management will help Georgian cities’ governments to increase their capacity to better manage and solve the waste management systems’ current difficulties, by providing technical assistance according to their needs.

 

Catawba County’s Manager and Utilities & Engineering Director – Tom Lundy and Barry Edwards – visited Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and the target city of Telavi in the first week of March to study the existing waste management system of the city. Following the City of Golden’s Public Works Director – Dan Hartman’s – visit to Batumi, Adjara region, Georgia.

With the WMTR team’s support Catawba County and the City of Golden’s officials held meetings with Telavi and Batumi governments and representatives of the Solid Waste Management Company of Georgia, and visited the waste collection fleets, landfills of the cities and recycling factories in the target regions – Kakheti and Adjara.

As a result of multiple working sessions, problematic areas of Telavi and Batumi cities’ waste management systems that need improvement with the assistance of the US counterparts have been selected.

During the cooperation, Catawba County’s government will provide support to Telavi City’s government in

 

the following directions: establishing a proper waste management system (including waste collection, separation and recycling); piloting modern practices of waste management; information sharing and public awareness raising on modern waste management practices through workshops, seminars and trainings; and consultations to set up a tariff calculation and fee collection system.

As for the cooperation between Batumi and the City of Golden, assistance will be provided in the following areas: public awareness raising on waste separation and recycling; experience sharing with Batumi City Hall staff members; elaboration of optimal contracting terms; cooperation with the university and research lab in the City of Golden regarding waste management issues; management of biological and medical waste; and the provision of a rehabilitation methodology after landfill closure.

The visits were concluded by the signing ceremonies for memorandums of understanding on cooperation between Catawba County, Telavi City and the WMTR Program on March 5, and between Batumi City, the City of Golden and the WMTR Program on March 12.

 

The mayors of Telavi and Batumi welcomed and showed great interest in the City-to-City Exchange Program, ensuring their full participation in the planned cooperation.

Draft action plans for cooperation have been prepared with the active participation of all concerned parties. The initiative will proceed according to the developed action plans and concrete interventions will be seen in the running year.

The Program Waste Management Technologies in Regions is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) together with CENN.

The abovementioned program aims to support the competent central and local government authorities, local businesses and communities, and municipalities in the design of an integrated waste management system for the Kakheti and Adjara regions.