AHK Baltic

The project was based on the EU Directive 2018/851 for waste, as all three Baltic States have major deficits in this area. The EU-wide targets to recycle 50 % of municipal waste by 2020, 55 % by 2030 and 65 % by 2035 seem very difficult to achieve in the Baltics. The Chamber of Commerce prepared a detailed needs assessment to analyze the current situation in the Baltic States. Afterwards, Baltic representatives will be brought together within a workshop under the guidance of a professional strategy consultant. The goal of this workshop was to create a concept that identified recommended actions for the transition to a sustainable circular economy. This transformation reduces the burden on the environment and increases sustainability. Through the transfer of knowledge between Germany and the Baltic States, the general understanding of sustainability in waste management was to be strengthened so that the transition to a modern infrastructure in the Baltic States is facilitated. Since Germany is an important trading partner and model country of the Baltic States, the cross-border organization of the project additionally strengthed the multilateral exchange and thus the relationship between the four nations. It also offered the opportunity to establish German companies as partners for technology solutions in waste management. Through the concept development, the Chamber of Commerce would like to support the Baltic States to implement the EU Directive 2018/851 in time. After the end of the project, the results were made available to political representatives, municipalities and vocational training institutions in the Baltic States and Germany to draw attention to the environmental challenges in the area of waste management and the opportunities offered by environmental technologies. National and regional business representatives as well as political decision makers can thus actively take the right steps towards a sustainable circular economy. In addition to sharing the concept, a study tour to Germany was organized. In the course of the tour, German solution providers presented their technology solutions and could start to establish German-Baltic collaborations. This promoted the utilization of the concept and contributed to the long-term development of a circular economy in the Baltic states.