TBILISI. 16 February 2021 — REC Caucasus hosted the second training within series of trainings on legal and practical aspects of PCBs environmentally sound management within the “PCB-free Electricity Distribution in Georgia” project, which brought together more than 20 representatives from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA), executive authorities, large industrial companies, including “Poti port”, “Batumi port” “Energo-pro Georgia”, “Georgian Railway”, “Rustavi Steel”, “Tbilisi Transport Company”, “Rustavi Azot”, “Mina”, research institutes and civil society organizations.
The training program includes all aspects of safe PCB management in Georgia. Mr. Alverd Chankseliani, Head of Waste Management Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture spoke about the requirements of the Stockholm Convention on POPs in the part of PCB management with the attendees. Reflecting on the event, he discussed Waste Management reforms in Georgia and presented requirements and developments on Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) and Circular Economy. Ms. Irma Gurguliani, Deputy Head of Waste and Chemicals Management Service at MEPA, presented draft technical regulations on the Accident Preparedness and Emergency Response.
The participants were also given the information on the Stockholm Convention: Main Achievements and Challenges and on the regulation on Procedures Aimed at Preventing Oil Release and Cross Contaminationon provided by Ms. Ana Berejiani, Head of Chemical and Hazardous Waste Division. Within the framework of the training course, Mr. Guram Tandilashvili, the project’s leading expert presented package of legal amendments in the field of PCB regulation. At the end of the training series, participants received certificates of completion of the course.
The project “PCB-free Electricity Distribution in Georgia” is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). National components are executed by the Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus (RECC). The project intends to speed up the adoption and enforcement by the Georgian government of provision related to the management of PCBs, and assist the country in the development and enforcement of specific rules and standards on the management of PCB containing waste, as well as development of technical guidelines concerning all stage of the lifecycle of equipment containing or contaminated by PCBs.
More information on the project can be found at: www.pcbfreegeorgia.com
