European Union

ASTANA, 23 August 2010 – On 26-27 August 2010 the capital of Kazakhstan will host a training entitled "Participation of AOCs in waste management" for representatives of apartment owners' cooperatives (AOCs) in Astana.

The purpose of the training is to familiarize AOC representatives with the practice of separated waste collection and to enhance their experience in terms of handling solid household wastes.

AOCs play one of the key roles in waste handling. They support and to a certain extent regulate and control relationships between waste producers (dwellers), waste utilizing companies and sometimes landfills. It also depends on AOCs how frequently and cleanly wastes are utilized, where they are transported and in what ways they are further used (burial, recycling, etc).

In the meantime, waste utilization is implemented in ways common in the Soviet times: a waste utilizing company transports wastes to a landfill. But soon a few condominiums in Astana will witness some change – their premises will be used for separate waste collection practices. It is very important to let them discover all the specificities and advantages of this scheme and share the experience of neighbouring cities and countries.

In the course of the training, AOC representatives will familiarize themselves with foreign experiences of waste handling, watch a number of films and TV commercials about separated waste collection in different cities and countries, learn about the state of play in the household waste system of Kazakhstan, especially in Astana, and will be given handout materials for social work developed by project experts.

The current training and pilot events are scheduled within the project "Instruments and tools of participation for better waste management in Astana". This project is financed by the European Union in the amount of EUR 108,807 and implemented by the EcoIDEA Public Foundation (Environmental Initiatives Development Agency) together with the CAREC.

Media are kindly invited to attend the training due on 26-27 August 2010 from 09.30 a.m. till 6 p.m. at Zhasamir Hotel: 17 Kenessary street, in front of the Central Stadium.

For further information and accreditation please refer to Ms. Karlygash Jamankulova, Press and Information Officer, EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, at: + 7 (7172) 971148, Karlygash.Jamankulova@ec.europa.eu or MsOlga Yaroslavtseva, Project PR Manager, at: +7 (727) 2298773, olga@ecoidea.kz.