The Congress of Mayors negotiates a cooperation agreement with the European Union (EU) for improve the management of “solid urban waste” in Uruguay, as they told The Observer sources from the European Union and confirmed Guillermo López, mayor of Florida and current president of Congress.
The agreement, which would have a duration of two yearswill focus on the “waste management and circular economy”and an investment of €850 thousand by the European body, told The Observer Enrique Gallicchio, advisor to the Congress of Mayors in the area of International Cooperation. The idea is to finish the negotiations of the terms of reference within a period of three to four months Y start the project in 2023Lopez assured.
The intent of the agreement will be improve the final disposal of waste, waste transfer plants, circular economy policy, reduction and reuse of waste, listed the Floridian. In the EU they do not rule out the implementation of a pilot plan for waste management.
They will also try acquire the “good practices” and the experience of different European cities that have been successful in waste management. In these experiences, continued the president of Congress, some departments they are “more advanced” than others.
The mayors work together with the Ministry of Environment to diagram the project, which will be framed within the Comprehensive waste management law promoted by the current administration. In September they will organize three regional workshops in different parts of the country and one national to “measure the pulse” of the initiative, Gallicchio said.
López explained that this possibility was reached after meetings held with George of the CavalryHead of Unit of the General Directorate of International Alliances of the European Community responsible for Latin America.
the hierarch visited “several places” in the garbage sector in Uruguayand remained “positively impressed” with some centersbut in others he reported that there was “a lot of work to do”especially for the landfillssaid the mayor. From the EU they indicated that the “garbage mountains” generated surprise, especially in a country that It is the size of several European countries.
second agreement
The waste management agreement will be the second consecutive agreement between both organizationsafter a cooperation agreement known as “Strengthening political decentralization and territorial development of equity”which aims promote sustainable development projects, Gallicchio stressed.
This agreement lasted for two and a half years, culminating in September 2022had an investment of €850 thousand and has so far 90% of your projects executedcommanded by Congress in coordination with the EU and the National Development Agency (ANDE), said the mayor.
24 projects were presented “focused on local economic development and employment promotion”, indicated the departmental adviser. A third of these initiatives, which were supported with around $50 thousand, is it so linked to tourismsuch as the management of the Casa Lussich de Maldonado.
They were also promoted productive activities such as the “wood chain” from Tacuarembo to Rivera, and the amethyst business in Artigas, and social projects as “Cannelloni-Nido”, Gallicchio listed.
The agreement has two other areas: training and generation of knowledge. For the first, the adviser remarked, they developed 30 “training instances” of various kinds to workers of the municipalities; in the second, a dialogue was generated with the European authorities on issues such as “economic consequences” of the pandemic and the “transfers” between departmental governments and the national government.
Travel to Spain
Mayors of the three political parties will travel to Spain in July to meet with Spanish authorities and specialists in waste and smart cities, sources from the Congress of Mayors informed The Observer. Adviser Gallicchio reported that Congress considers “go see some good practices” in waste management to the old continent.
Until now, the trip has not had a date or a set calendar of meetings, but from the Congress they expressed that progress is being made in the concretion of meetings with authorities of the Spanish government and the communities of Madrid, Barcelona and the Basque Country.
Although he did not confirm any meeting, Gallicchio maintained that Congress works on a “subnational report on sustainable development goals” in conjunction with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), a global organization of local governments based in Barcelona.
He also said that work is being done to develop a strategy for “decentralized cooperation”, between territory and territory without passing through the Statein consultation with governments specialized in the matter such as the Basque Country.
The departmental leaders will also deal with the application of modifications to the single national driving license. Gallicchio stated that there is a dialogue with the Spanish authorities on the development of this point in the country.
In November 2021, Pere Navarro, General Director of Traffic in Spain, gave a virtual conference in the Assembly Hall of Torre Ejecutiva in front of different government authorities, in which he outlined the main characteristics of a “points license” that seeks to remove the license of repeat offendersas read in a presidential statementwhich states that Uruguay was already in the process of applying for that type of permit.
