For the last two years, the Rama Government has focused on the waste management industry, giving out concessions and building permits for several incinerators, the opening of several landfills, and resending the waste management law to Parliament.
The following projects have been approved in recent times:
Landfills
Only a few days ago, the inhabitants of Rrogozhina protested against the construction of a landfill for the collection of waste near the village Gosa. But it seems that their complaints have little chance of being heard. The Municipal Council has approved the decision to build the landfill, which will collect the waste from Rrogozhina, Divjaka, Lushnja, and Kavaja. It is not know whether the landfill will be managed through a public–private partnership (PPP) or by the municipality.
The new landfill in Sharra near Tirana, managed through a PPP since 2016 by 3R, a company led by local PS leader Edurim Teqja, is one of the most notorious in the country. In August 2016, the death 17-year-old Ardit Gjoklaj showed that this landfill illegally employed child labor, while all workers – in spite of Mayor Erion Veliaj’s promises – worked without contract, without healthcare insurance, and unprotected from toxic waste.
The new landfill for the city of Durrës has been established in Manza, a few kilometers from the city. The 30-year concession to install and manage this landfill has been given in 2015 to the Italian form Kinexia and Albania Landfill Energia (ALE) shpk. 1.9 million tons of waste are expected to be processed here each year.
Incinerators
At least four building permits were given for waste incinerator plants during the last year:
In Tirana, a new landfill and incinerator will be built with 30-year concession to Integrated Energy BV, a Dutch shell company established in the Netherlands in 2016 owned by Klodian Zoto.
In Fier, the municipal council approved a decision to build a waste processing plant in the village Mbrostar, against the protests of the inhabitants. The company that will manage this plant for 6 years is Integrated Technology Services, owned by Klodian Zoto.
In Elbasan, the construction of the new incinerator started immediately after the municipal council approved it in 2015. The construction of the plant was managed through a direct negotiation process, without an open tender procedure or any form of transparency. According to the public procurement law only emergency situations allow for the negotiation process to be used. The company that will manage the plant, AlbtekEnergy shpk, was created only a few months before winning the contract.
Also in Shijak a permit was given a few months ago to build a processing plant for medical waste and animal carcasses. Again the decision was taken without any form of transparency or information of the inhabitants, which vehemently protested against the allegedly illegal waste burning activities undertaken by the company. The company responsible is Jamarbër Group shpk, founded in March 2017 and with no prior experience in waste management.
Other incinerators are planned in Delvina and Maliq. The waste management law, first passed by Berisha in 2011 and canceled by Rama in 2013, will certainly pass in the coming month under the new Rama government, thus furnishing a host of companies without any prior experience in waste management with a steady flow of foreign waste imports, for which Albania will suffer the environmental and health consequences.
