YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Government is paying special attention to developing and introducing a complex waste management system, among other sectors, Arsen Gasparyan - chief advisor to the Prime Minister, said during a seminar on Armenia’s waste management policy and strategy at the American University of Armenia.

He noted that back in August the government had initiated inter-agency meetings with this purpose. Following the meetings, a task force including all stakeholder agencies, NGOs and analytical centers was set up. Gasparyan said that based on this logic the government decided to cooperate with the university, that has great potential and scientific potential in this sector.

He said that after studies, it was decided to develop the waste management strategy gradually in the entire territory of the country.

He said that first of all it is necessary to have a clear study on solid household waste and morphological composition.

Together with the American University, the task force developed a technical task that emphasizes the required information for the development of the strategy. “Then, negotiations were held with a number of European, American and Chinese companies,” he said.

He said that as of this moment, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Chinese and several American companies have presented proposals to study the quality and quantity of the waste in Armenia.

Gasparyan said soon the government will select the company for implementing the studies.

The next phase will be the development of the strategy which will be the basis for the household  waste management system, with various variants under consideration.

He said that the Armenian embassies in Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Germany and Netherlands are carrying out discussions with leading companies to have waste recycling proposals.

According to Gasparyan, the Chinese state owned China National Electric Engineering company has expressed willingness to build a waste-to-energy factory in Armenia. He added that the Swiss ambassador to Armenia has expressed readiness to support the promotion of the sector.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan