Eunomia to assist on two EU Commission projects

The work includes a review of municipal waste management plans across eight EU Member States, as well as leading a consortium to provide advice on the implementation of waste management in the Western Balkans.

EU Member States were required to produce municipal waste management plans as a requirement of the Waste Framework Directive. Eunomia will assess how this requirement has been met in Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Croatia.

Commenting on the contract senior consultant Ann Bellinger said: “Many countries still face issues as they seek to meet the targets under the EU waste acquis. Many have recently completed their waste management plans, as required under the Waste Framework Directive.

“Our aim is to understand the quality of these, and whether the concrete actions being taken are likely to lead to the outcomes being envisaged. We will be developing roadmaps for the countries where we feel there is a gap between the two, and where they may be able to improve their performance.”

West Balkans

In the West Balkans Eunomia will, as part of a consortium of firms, provide advice on the quality and implementation of waste management law.

Six countries are covered in the work: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Eunomia will also consider the potential for regional cooperation on the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

Tim Elliott, senior consultant and project manager, commented: “We’re extremely excited to have been appointed to do this work. We will be working with partners from other EU countries as well as local partners in the 6 countries to be covered by the work. The extent of the transformation required is likely to be considerable, and over the next two years, we’ll be looking to understand what approaches are most likely to work in the local context.”

The two contracts, awarded this month, extend Eunomia’s long-standing relationship with the European Commission. The firm was a part of a consortium that provided technological, socio-economic and cost-benefit assessments on EU waste legislation for the Commission since 2011.

This included heading up work to review waste management legislation that formed the basis of former Commissioner Janez Potocnik’s waste policy package, which was adopted by the Commission in July 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story). Dr Potocnik’s plan was subsequently dropped when a new Commission was appointed in late 2014, with the Commission currently re-considering revisions to waste legislation.