EBRD and EU Raise Awareness about Waste Management at Jordanian Schools
EBRD and EU Raise Awareness about Waste Management at Jordanian Schools
Source :
01-Apr-2020
By Nibal Zgheib
LONDON - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a program to raise awareness about solid waste management in Jordan among the young people in Jordan, an important step towards building an environmentally-conscious generation.
Supported by the EBRD and the European Union (EU), the awareness raising campaign “Keeping our city clean” targeted Jordanian and Syrian students in 20 public schools and focused on sustainable waste management.
Two thousand students in Amman, aged 12-15, learned about solid waste management and the importance of minimizing waste in their day to day behavior.
The campaign was organized in the context of the EBRD’s refugee response plan, which includes investments with Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) for expanding and improving solid waste management in their main landfill in Ghabawi. The landfill handles around 4,300 tones/day and its capacity has been strained by a growing population, including the arrival of Syrian refugees since 2011.
Local non-governmental organization Green Wheelz implemented the campaign and taught the students about the challenges that increased amounts of waste would pose in the years to come, the importance of recycling and reusing materials, and the steps everyone can take to build a greener and more sustainable city. The campaign aimed at reinforcing the students’ sense of responsibility and developing a positive attitude towards recycling.
The end of the successful campaign was marked by a closing event attended by Dr. Heike Harmgart, EBRD Managing Director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region and Maria Hadjitheodosiou, EU Ambassador to Jordan and the Mayor of Amman, Youssef Shawarbeh. The EBRD has been working in municipal infrastructure development with GAM since 2015 to address numerous challenges, including the construction of an additional cell at the Ghabawi landfill and the creation of a landfill gas recovery system, which generates electricity from waste, a ground-breaking technology in the region. The city of Amman has joined the EBRD Green Cities program.
To date, the Bank has invested JOD 112.5 million (equivalent of €144.2 million) of loans to improve the operations of GAM and catalyzed donor support from the European Union, the United Kingdom, TaiwanICDF and the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Multi Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Taipei China and the UK).
Since Jordan joined the EBRD in 2012, the Bank has invested over €1.5 billion in 50 projects.
Source:https://www.ebrd.com/news/2020/ebrd-and-eu-raise-awareness-about-waste-management-in-jordanian-schools.html