The residents of Soldanesti and Rezina districts became the beneficiaries of a pilot waste collection project within which the waste is collected separately: paper, plastic, glass, and residual waste. The new service will benefit about 45,000 people living in 27 settlements. It was created within a project supported by the Government of Germany, which allocated €2.2 million through the project of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) “Modernization of local public services in the Republic of Moldova”, IPN reports.

Attending the launch, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said such projects contribute to the modernization and sustainable development of the country. This project is the second of the kind launched in Moldova this year, but is larger in scale. The Premier thanked the foreign partners for the technical and financial assistance provided, saying such regional projects should be extended all over the country.

German Ambassador to Moldova Ulrike Maria Knotz said that waste management must be cost-efficient. The project “Modernization of local public services in the Republic of Moldova” is supported financially by the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Union.

Within the project, there were built 260 platforms and purchased containers with distinctive labels and specialized machines and recycling equipment. The service costs 8 lei a month per village resident and 10 lei a month per town resident. For public intuitions and economic entities, it will cost 150 lei per cubic meter of waste a month. The waste will be collected by garbage trucks three times a week in towns and once a week in villages. The project already created 25 new workplaces and more jobs will be created when all its components are implemented.

The project envisions the construction of an intercommunity solid waste management center in Parcani, Soldanesti and two recycling centers in Soldanesti and Floresti. As a landfill will be set up only at the end of 2015, there were authorized three places were the waste will be gathered, while the other waste dumps will be closed.