Around 700,000 tons of municipal solid waste are generated annually in Armenia. Most of this waste is removed to roughly 300 operating landfills. Approximately 95% of recyclable waste—glass, paper, plastic, and metal—is sorted directly at these landfills by informal groups. Due to partially implemented waste sorting systems in a few settlements, no more than 5% of recyclable waste is collected at the source. These findings were revealed by experts from the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment.
According to the Center’s research, sorting waste at landfills has several drawbacks, including violations of sanitary and labor safety conditions, risks of uncontrolled fires, atmospheric emissions, and contamination and devaluation of recyclable materials.
The main obstacles to effective waste management in Armenia are an underdeveloped legal framework, lack of public awareness, and insufficient capacities of state and local government bodies.
Armenia has adopted a policy to reform the waste management sector as part of the Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Under this agreement, Armenia was to implement an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system by 2024.
EPR is a strategic tool that obliges product manufacturers or importers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products, including the safe disposal of resulting waste.
Producers participating in EPR join non-profit Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs), to which they pay a designated fee. PROs coordinate the proper handling of specific waste types and ensure their collection and recycling under supervision and reporting conditions.
While the system has not yet been implemented, Environment Ministry is currently drafting a law on "Extended Producer Responsibility System." The process is supported by the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, which is providing technical assistance under the Sweden-funded “Waste Policy in Armenia” program. The Center’s legal experts are helping develop the draft law, secondary legislation for specific waste types, and a package of amendments to related legal acts.
Harutyun Alpetian, waste management expert at the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, told EcoLur that the draft law is currently under internal circulation and is expected to be published on the Unified Website for Draft Legal Acts in May. The drafting process involves active cooperation with the business community.
According to him, under other initiatives, they are also working with municipalities to familiarize them with the implementation specifics of the system. By 2024, communities are required to have separate waste management plans, and the introduction of the EPR system will help them process sorted waste and generate additional revenue.
Alpetian noted that the non-profit organizations created by producers (PROs) will coordinate the collection and recycling of waste. Producers and importers, including the founding members of these organizations, will make payments to the PRO. “These organizations will purchase services from operators, which in this case are the municipalities,” he added.
Responsible Business Experience
One example from Armenia is the electronics and appliance importer Vega, which, guided by its environmental and social responsibility principles, has developed a “compensation” mechanism for waste generated by its imported products. The company accepts broken household appliances and batteries at its stores. The appliances are dismantled and the waste is sent for recycling, while batteries are collected for future recycling. All proceeds are donated to charitable causes.
Artur Chobanyan, Vega’s Development Director noted that the parts of the equipment they import eventually become waste. “From a business standpoint, we don't gain any financial benefit from this project. But I believe we should raise awareness about it. I believe that green thinking is our future,” Chobanyan noted.
Founded in 2013, AM-Esca LLC has over 10 years of experience working with hazardous waste. The company processes and neutralizes waste, addressing a number of environmental issues. Their operations produce technical carbon, metal scrap, and liquid furnace fuel. From technical carbon, the company manufactures high-calorific briquettes that serve as a substitute for coal.
April 10, 2025 at 17:13