EU budget gap holding back municipal waste reform and decarbonisation in central and eastern Europe
March 10, 2025
A new report by Bankwatch, Za Zemiata and Zelena Akcija, in collaboration with Zero Waste Europe, reveals that current EU budget allocations for circular economy and municipal waste management measures are insufficient to help central and eastern European countries catch up with the EU’s decarbonisation targets.
Waste management and the circular economy in central and eastern Europe: An analysis of EU cohesion policy funding
March 10, 2025
This report assesses the impact of cohesion policy funding on the capacity and progress of selected central and eastern European countries in building efficient waste management systems, an essential component of the EU’s new Circular Economy Action Plan.
CEE Bankwatch Network comments on the draft of the EBRD Infrastructure Sector Strategy
August 14, 2024
The EBRD’s draft strategy, published in the summer of 2024, shows improvements particularly in terms of good governance, inclusion, safety, affordability, accessibility of municipal and transport infrastructure and services. In our new comments, we argue that more needs to be done to decarbonise and promote circular economy principles and sustainable waste management.
Seven years after joining the EBRD’s Green Cities programme, is Yerevan’s green future going up in flames?
June 2, 2023
In May 2023, a massive fire broke out at the Nubarashen landfill on the outskirts of Yerevan, enveloping the city in a cloud of toxic smoke generated by the burning waste. It took 10 days and 2,300 truckloads of soil to extinguish the flames. Coming seven years after Yerevan became a pioneer by joining the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s Green Cities initiative, this incident is a stark reminder of the urgent need to adopt a safer and more sustainable approach to waste management and urban planning.
Implementation of Yerevan’s Green City Action Plan
June 2, 2023
This report assesses the extent to which the actions, targets and objectives set out in Yerevan’s GCAP have been implemented and how this has affected the city’s environmental conditions.
Checking in on Waste Management Projects in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
December 27, 2022
The EBRD is facilitating the introduction of green technologies, waste recovery and recycling systems in both countries, but more …
Public Participation, the Achilles Heel of International Investments in Uzbekistan
December 15, 2022
People living in the settlements adjacent to landfills slated for expansion under an EBRD project were not adequately consulted.
Position Paper on the Serbia Solid Waste National Programme
December 15, 2021
This position paper, prepared by the CEE Bankwatch Network and based on research conducted by Springloop Cooperative, U.A. and Bankwatch member group CEKOR, Serbia, expresses concern about the Serbia Solid Waste National Programme, a multi-site EUR 150 million project co-financed 50:50 by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the French Development Agency. The paper discusses the various risks associated with approving the project without first ensuring that detailed social and environmental assessments are carried out, and it calls on the Bank to condition the project on guarantees that the rights and livelihoods of the most vulnerable and marginalized affected people will be protected.
‘Needle under a blanket’ at Belgrade waste project
January 18, 2021
Superficial cover up by the EBRD’s accountability mechanism of problems at Belgrade Solid Waste public-private partnership is followed by new request for problem solving.
Deponie mit giftigem Arsen neben einem Wohngebiet: eine Schweizer Firma bezieht Kupfer von einer umstrittenen Schmelzerei
October 26, 2020
Die Schweizer IXM S.A. lässt bulgarisches Kupfer mit hohem Arsengehalt in einem Schmelzwerk in Namibia verarbeiten und nimmt diesem die ganze Produktion auch wieder ab. Das giftige Arsen wird gemäss Berichten in Zuckersäcken in einer Freiluft-Deponie am Rand einer Kleinstadt gelagert.
