Protection of the Tisza and Danube is also in focus at the UN Environment Programme conference

On 26-27 March 2024, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organised a South-East Europe platform entitled "Western Balkans Regional Waste Management Conference".

Gergely Hankó, representing KSZGYSZ, KEXPORT Cluster and Plastic Cup, gave a presentation on the recently published policy guidance and river protection efforts in Hungary (#aquaticplastic).The Interreg Aquatic Plastic project started 1 January 2024 (30 months).

32 partners are cooperating from 11 countries to reduce plastic pollution in the Danube Basin

The main objectives of the projects are:

• Cost-effective quantification of microplastic contamination and macroplastic accumulations at HPPs
• Targeting and managing temporarily halted riverine litter accumulations
• Empowering human resources to fight against water pollution in the Danube River Basin

The event was held on the occasion of the international Zero Waste Day (#zerowasteday), which aims to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, support the social shift towards a circular economy and raise awareness of how zero waste initiatives contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the 2-day platform, UNEP also presented its work plan for 2024 and beyond at the UN headquarters in Vienna, which offers several opportunities for environmental enterprises in Hungary in the areas of abandoned waste, recultivation, prevention and recovery of plastic waste, textiles and electronic waste, and the remediation of contaminated sites, as a follow-up to the focus on brownfield investments. The technical presentations on the overall plans, situation and financing opportunities in the Balkans will be shared with the relevant working groups of the HAEE.

The conference aims to facilitate and promote future discussions on innovative strategies, opportunities, policies and practices that encourage waste prevention, reduction, recycling and circular economy principles to create a cleaner and healthier environment in the Western Balkan economies. In addition, cooperation between different actors and sectors will be actively encouraged to promote sustainable practices and introduce environmentally friendly technologies. Cross-border cooperation will play a central role in the initiative as it seeks to explore opportunities for cross-border cooperation in the field of environment. By fostering regional partnerships and collaboration between neighbouring countries, the initiative aims to develop joint strategies, share resources and jointly and collectively address common environmental challenges in the region.

Both HAEE, KEXPORT Cluster and Plastic Cup have been invited to participate in environmental projects in the Balkan countries supported by the UN Environment Programme to improve air quality, preserve biodiversity and improve waste management in the region, and to help the transition to a closed-loop system. After mapping synergies, UNEP and relevant representatives were invited to the ENVIRONTEC powered by Ökoindustria expo, as several areas of expertise are strongly linked to the themes of the planned specialised conferences:

2 October: RE-BROWN Remediation and brownfield management conference

3 October: Circular economy, waste management - Prevention, reuse, recovery conference

The UN Environment Programme offers more than 15 000 items, from real-time data collection tools and platforms to key reports, publications, fact sheets, interactive materials and much more: https://www.unep.org/publications-data

More information:Gergely Hankó
[email protected]

This presentation was supported as part of AQUATIC PLASTIC, an Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union with the financial contribution of the partner states and institutions.