IETU is starting cooperation with research units from Panama, Dominican Republic and Guatemala

The Caribbean-European Union Research Alliance for Better Waste Management is a project implemented by a consortium of research units from Germany, Poland, Panama, Dominican Republic and Guatemala, coordinated by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Germany.

The aim of the CARE4WASTE project is to raise the awareness of the use of waste as a valuable raw material among the Latin American and Caribbean society.
“We want to use the expertise of an international group of contractors to identify the barriers that occur in Latin American and Caribbean countries in the field of waste management policy and practice. Together with our partners from Panama, Dominican Republic and Guatemala we will focus on reviewing good practices already existing in these countries and organisational, logistic and technical solutions in waste collection and processing and recycling infrastructure management developed in EU that could be transferred to these regions. We will also be working on business models and pilot projects to be implemented in the field of recycling and harvesting resources in the municipal sector", says Marek Matejczyk.

Training courses will be provided to both research and public administration and waste management entities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Training of future trainers is very important as this will enable the dissemination of knowledge among the public.

“The aim of international projects implemented under the ERANet-LAC programme is to establish new, long-lasting and multilateral cooperation between scientists in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Participation in the CARE4WASTE project extends IETU's activities to the Central American and Caribbean markets. We have established contacts with key scientific and business partners in this region, which will allow us to gain knowledge and learn the specifics of these areas so that we can jointly realise pilot projects and implementations. The CARE4WASTE project will be implemented for two years (2017-2019). This is one of 27 projects that have received funding in the second ERANet-LAC competition”, emphasises Dr. Jan Skowronek, Director of IETU.

The project has received funding from the National Research and Development Centre under the ERANet-LAC Programme.