Snežana Bogosavljević Bošković, Serbian minister of agriculture and environmental protection, Siegmund Müller, director of German Development Cooperation (GIZ) Serbia, and Klaus Schmidt, Impact Project leader, signed an agreement on the implementation of the second phase of the project. In the next three years, EUR 3 million will be invested in five pilot municipalities in areas of waste and waste water management, the ministry said.
The project is funded by the German government, it includes strengthening of administrative capacity, and it will be realized in Aleksandrovac, Kuršumlija, Bela Crkva, Krupanj and Svilajnac. Minister Bogosavljević Bošković said there are great efforts to attract investments in the field and that more than EUR 3 billion is needed. The aim is to promote waste as resource to be reused, she added.
Müller said the idea for the new phase of the project is for the municipal authorities to implement an integrated system of environmental protection and waste management, including waste water. Schmidt added one of the aspects is integration of minorities and vulnerable groups, particularly people from the Roma community, as many gather waste.
The Impact Project was launched in 2012 and lasted for three years. During that time, the five municipalities measured the amounts and composition of waste and waste waters. The project aims to set preconditions for the introduction of circular economy on the local and national levels.
