A truck loaded with plastic bags stands in front of the warehouses of the recycling factory “Everest” in Kashar, Tirana, ready to depart towards France. The raw materials have been processed and, thanks to a modern technological process, have been recycled in the final product which is these plastic bags, printed in French, and ready to be exported to France.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Environment Lefter Koka, MPs Eduard Shalsi, Besnik Bare and Namik Kopliku visited the plant and saw closely the technological process of recycling. The Prime Minister had a conversation with some recyclers who had exhibited their products at the fair opened at the premises of the factory.
Currently, the recycling industry in the country processes 120 thousand tons of domestic waste per year. Recyclers say that if this industry stopped because of the unbearable costs, at least 10 thousand tons of waste would remain in the streets every month. In addition, it generates in the domestic economy 150 million euros, or 1% of the gross domestic product.
“If we imagined for a moment that all these factories will close down because they cannot afford the costs, etc., what would the percentage of the unprocessed waste that would grow, thrown in ditches, be burnt or remain in the streets be?” – the Prime Minister asked. “Minimally they would be over 10 thousand tons per month”, one of the recyclers replied.
“120 thousand tons of domestic waste per year would end up in ditches, remain in the neighbourhood, without being recycled. But by strengthening the industry which works full time, and by making in parallel the differentiated division, we will have a far superior processing capacity of this raw material, with an effect of 150 million plus in economy, 1% of gross domestic product”, the Prime Minister noted.
The manager of the plant “Everest” said 80% of the product recycled from domestic waste is exported. “Currently, we have 80% for export, and installed capacity. This truck is ready to leave for export. The French bag we showed you was made from raw material which has been recycled, and now is ready for export”.
In addition to the bags, the plant produces also water pipes for irrigation from recyclable waste. The new law paves the path for the recycling industry to fully meet market demand in the country for irrigation water pipes in greenhouses.
“Those who buy goods in France with this bag, i.e., have this bag from recycled waste in Albania, called trash by mistake, because it is not trash, it becomes a product again, it is not burnt or buried. Waste is what is burnt or eliminated, whereas green waste is raw material. These pipes that irrigate the greenhouses come from this waste. By increasing the quantity of the raw material, the new law gives you the opportunity to produce pipes for the greenhouses in the country, and to fully meet the demand in the country both in terms of quality and quantity”, the Prime Minister said.
Another recycler told that he produces ropes from the recycling of bottles, and polyester fibre used to produce the thread of polyester. Another plant uses recycled raw material to produce water pipes for irrigation and drinking water, as well as optical fibre. “80% of our products go to Germany”, he said. The renowned Chrysler Fiat as well is supplied with ingots produced by Albanian waste. “We produce ingots for the automotive industry. It is practically prepared for Fiat Chrysler”, the manufacturer said. Another waste recycler who produces from sawdust remains, raised the concern that her plant hadn’t worked for months.
The growth of this industry means increasing the capacity to process more waste from across the country, in addition to fully meeting the market demand for products. “We consider it necessary”, the Prime Minister said, “if you clean today 120 thousand tons of this kind of waste from the territory of Albania, from urban centres, we want to increase this and not let any recyclable thing to go waste. Your increased capacity will cover all the country’s needs for pipes for agriculture.”
There is a problem that has become an obstacle to the work of this waste industry, and this is the not differentiation of waste at source. For this, the Prime Minister noted that in Tirana and some other municipalities will be established soon the system of differentiated waste. The new law, the Prime Minister said, creates a completely different approach to the problem of waste.
“Due to the fact that import wasn’t allowed for a long time, the collection capacity of this industry in the country has increased, in addition to strengthening the collection network. But now the industry cannot keep going with this process any longer due to high costs, and because Albania doesn’t have yet the separate collection at source, which means in the bins. Now, the green light to the import of this kind of waste, which actually is raw material for production, will strengthen this industry, and not let it fail as it happened with two former plants. In parallel with the establishment of the differentiated waste system that will be implemented in a few municipalities – and for this the administrative reforms was absolutely necessary, for it could not be done with 400 municipalities – we need a preparatory period, because it cannot be done overnight. We will begin in Tirana in the coming months, and Albania will be much cleaner. So, what people need to understand is that the new law, which is not the old law, but a completely different approach, aims at making Albania a cleaner place.”
