Albanian National Strategy on Waste Management.

The National Strategy and Action Plan on Waste Management was adopted on January 2011 with the purpose of ensuring sustainable economic development while promoting environmental values and preserving country’s natural resources from pollution and degradation. It will remain in force during the period 2009-2013.
The strategy and the action plan will contribute to cross-cutting issues such as improvement of life quality and creating conditions for sustainable and integrated development. To this end, the policy focuses on seven areas of interventions:
1. Revision of legal and institutional frameworks including the approximation of national laws with EU acqui communitaire and the strengthening of the line institutions; 2. Improved law enforcement through additional resources made available to the Environmental Inspectorate and the regional environmental departments; 3. improved systems of permits issuance, and increased awareness through information campaigns; 4. Funding for solid waste administration projects such as building of new discharge areas, closing of old ones; 5. rehabilitation of polluted lands; 6. Building of waste treatment plants; 7. Communication and awareness campaigns including introduction of relevant information in schools curriculum.
To improve the efficiency in natural resources use efforts will focus on establishing public private partnerships to fund the introduction of new technologies, provision of financial support for environmental infrastructure projects and energy use efficiency. Another objective of the strategy and action plan is the improvement of living conditions for poor rural communities, which have so far been excluded from waste management schemes, in an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable manner.
Regarding governance, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration is the lead institution for the strategy and action plan implementation. Further, three working groups will be created to help with coordination including a central inter-ministerial group, an advisory national committee, and local technical groups in every region. A list of financial, administrative, and technical indicators to be used for monitoring and reporting purposes are also included in the strategy.