Narrative
The project is a cross-border cooperation between Baia Mare Municipality, the lead partner of the project located in the region of Maramures in Romania, and two cities from southwest Ukraine: Ivano-Frankivsk and Kolomyia. It aims at the intensification and strenghtening of the durable cooperation on a social, economic and environmental plan between the cities through joint initiatives in the field of biodegrable wastes collecting and recovering. It was part of the Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine ENPI (European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) CBC (cross-border cooperation) 2007–2013 programme, Priority 2: Enhance environmental quality, Measure 2.1: Environmental protection, sustainable use and management of natural resources, with the project acronym HUSKROUA/1101/132. The allocation of the budget between the cities was: Baia Mare – 219636.5 euro, Ivano-Frankivsk – 114820, Kolomyia –107900 euro.The investments were made for the implementation of a modern and efficient system for the recycling of biodegradable waste materials resulting from the maintanence of the green spaces in the cities: grooming of trees, collecting fallen leaves and cutting grass. All this can be used as raw input material for the production of compost, which can be later reused as fertiliser for the same municipal green spaces. To start this cycle of reusing bio material the necesary machines were needed to be bought and a staff was needed to be hired and instructed. The machines used are a wood chipper for the cutting of the raw material and placing the end product in prisms, an aerator machine for the aeration of the deposits – worth approx. 74000 euros – and a rotary sieving machine for sieving the compost – worth approx. 52000 euros. All these steps of the process are important so that the resulting compost has a carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) between 20:1 to 35:1.
Financial data
Total: 442355.5 euro from which 398120.85 euro (90%) ENPI&ENI EU finance, 10981.83 euro (5%) Romanian government finance and 10981.83 euro (5%) local finance of the Municipality of Baia Mare.
Recommendations
By signing partnership agreements the cross-border cooperation helped in sharing the common knowledge and experience and helped building common knowhow. These efforts strengthened the transition between the policies of the European Union towards the Ukrainian cities, a main objective of the ENPI and EU. For the dissemination of the project goals a total of 60000 leaflets were distributed with the hope of also raising environmental awareness levels in the citizens. Another tangible result for the residents of these cities is the creation of new jobs: in the case of Baia Mare this meant 8 new jobs in the new waste management facility. Further quantifiable numbers on the impact of the project on the Romanian city is the annually collected 15000 m3of degradable waste from which 4000 tons of compost is produced, with the help of which 30 ha of green spaces were rehabilitated. Reusing the green waste also means the decrease of the amount of toxic gases that would have resulted from the burning of the material. All this resulted in a project that created a self-sustainable cycle which collects waste and reuses it for beneficial purposes, thus enhancing the life quality of the citizens – a multipurpose impact worth aiming for in future projects.
Information sources
Baia Mare City websiteOther info
https://www.baiamare.ro/ro/Proiecte/Dezvoltare-urbana/Managementul-deseurilor-biodegradabile/ http://huskroua-cbc.net/en/project_idea_and_partner_search_form/36 https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.baiamare.ro%2FBaiamare%2FProiecte%2Fdeseuri%2520biodegradabile%2FManagementul%2520deseurilor%2520biodegradabile.ppt&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK https://ziarmm.ro/baia-mare-si-doua-orase-din-ucraina-vor-sa-si-faca-statii-de-reciclare-a-deseurilor/ https://www.ecomagazin.ro/proiect-comun-roman-ucrainean-de-reciclare-a-deseurilor-biodegradabile-urbane/ https://keep.eu/projects/23947/The-management-of-bio-degra-EN/
