The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation are working to improve waste management in Paraguay through the project “Mercury and Persistent Organic Compound-free solutions for environmentally sound waste management,” with support from the Global Environment Facility.
This work is led by MADES and implemented by UNIDO, with support from the Ministries of Public Health and Interior; the National Electricity Administration, the Paraguayan Organisation for Intermunicipal Cooperation, the Basel Convention Coordinating Center-Stockholm Convention Regional Center for Latin America and the Caribbean/Technological Laboratory of Uruguay and the Center for Environmental and Social Studies.
The aim of the project is to transform waste management in Paraguay into a more sustainable model, promoting environmental awareness and the correct segregation of hazardous waste, to protect health and the environment.
As part of this initiative, technicians from Mades and the project visited the municipalities of Hohenau, Obligado, Bella Vista, Carmen del Paraná and Fram, where they presented mayors and municipal authorities with a diagnosis of the current situation of their landfills.
The assessment identified opportunities for improvement in waste management, prioritising the separation of valuable materials and the proper treatment of hazardous waste, especially those containing mercury (Hg) and Persistent Organic Compounds (POP), reports the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.
