Parliamentary commitee reviews draft law on waste management

Tbilisi: A Parliamentary commitee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources reviewed the draft law “On Amendments to the Waste Management Code” in the second reading. After this second reading commitee supported the amendment to bill.

As per the Nino Thandilashvili , the first deputy minister of environment protection and agriculture the abovementioned code was adopted in 2015 and moreover it fully complies with all Dirctrive of European Union in the field of waste management. This specific code established rules for the treatment of specific waste.Additionally, it introduced an extended obligation for the producer of waste material, which means that the producer of products generating specific waste must follow the rules and requirements, among others, for proper recycling of waste.

Minster further added that ” We have received the government’s order to fulfil the requirements stipulated by the Georgian law. Waste mangement regulations concern specific waste like batteries, accumulators, tires, electrical and electronic equipment, as well as used oils. we have developed many changes to the Code to make it more practical.

According to the amendments to the draft law, strict sanctions are added to the code for violators if a waste owner transfers the waste to an unauthorized person for management; more sanctions are also added to the code for violations of special requirements for the collection and treatment of hazardous waste.

“it is to be specifically mentioned that in order to regulate the problems arising in the practice of the work of the environmental supervision department, it becomes necessary to refine the technical/terminological aspects of the separate articles of the “Waste Management Code” and to eliminate the gaps in it.

Speaking on the occasion Khatia Tsilosani , the first deputy chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Natural Resources ” It is important that along with
municipalities and businesses we are gradually reaching the perfection of the waste management code in Georgia. Each proposed change brings Georgia closer to European regulations, and I think this is very important considering that the country is waiting for a truly historic decision very soon on its Integration with European Union. All of us should follow law in every sense and should adopt the new changes and regulations with more enthusiasm and motivation, which are related to the regulation of issues in our country in terms of environmental and, especially proper waste management.

Notably, waste management has become a big problem of concern for the Whole country. Many environmentalists and social organizations were demanding strict laws in place for waste management.