Announcement: SCP/RAC supports the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro to implement "green" practices in relation to plastics and waste

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro (MORiT) is committed to implement new "green" practices. Some of the measures implemented are the replacement of water in plastic bottles by tap water in glass jugs with an engraved Ministry logo and the elimination of plastic straws, spoons and mixers at the cafeteria. Cotton durable cleaners and gloves have been delivered to the cleaning service. As for sorting waste, the collection of used paper will be enhanced by dedicated cardboard boxes in each office room, and new PET bottles containers have been placed.

The measures were introduced last 9^th March 2020 by Secretary of State Ms. Dragana Cenic to the Ministry's employees, urging them to fully engage to the implementation of these measures, hoping that they would become a permanent practice in the Ministry. As she stated, the Ministry will serve as an example to other public administration institutions in Montenegro, when it comes to such sustainable and “green” practices.

The project is part of a larger portfolio of activities implemented by SCP/RAC within the Cooperation Agreement between UNEP/MAP and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Land and Sea Protection. For this, SCP/RAC engaged Zero Waste Montenegro, which in the first phase of the project prepared a detailed analysis of the current situation and proposed recommendations for the reduction of disposable plastics in the Ministry. By implementing them thousand pieces of disposable plastic would be avoided, which in addition to preventing environmental pollution, would also represent savings in the Ministry's public procurement. Reusable options (e.g. glass jugs and metal spoons) were made available to the Ministry to support the implementation.

In addition, a similar process has been implemented in the Capital City of Pogdorica. Following this work, the municipality is in the process of discussing a ban on particular single-use plastic products.

Both activities have been implemented following the recently published  Guidelines to address single-use plastics through public procurement in the Mediterranean, and indeed they represent a successful implementation test. A comprehensive report following the steps of the guidelines can be found here. 

The results of the pilot project "Technical support to public institutions in the prevention of the use of disposable plastic in Montenegro" are in line with the provisions of the most recent European Union directives, which will regulate certain plastic products in the EU Member States from 2021.

Read the press release from the Ministry here.  

Photo: Ministarstvo održivog razvoja i turizma

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