Fourth Plenary Meeting on Circular Economy Mapping in Georgia

On 12th July 2022, the fourth Plenary Meeting on Circular Economy Mapping in Georgia was held in Tbilisi City, in the Ballroom of Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, to bring together the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Board of the Government of Georgia and the Task Team of the Georgian Society of Nature Explorers “Orchis” (GSNE “Orchis) in the frames of the project ‘To Map Circular Economy in Georgia’ supported by the Government of Sweden, and implemented by GSNE “Orchis” in close cooperation with the Government of Georgia (GoG).

Together with the Task Team of GSNE “Orchis” and its International Expert Dr. Dariusz Prasek, among the participants of the fourth Plenary Meeting were: the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Acad. Solomon Pavliashvili, the Head of Development Cooperation /Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden Mr. Erik Illes, the Chair of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament of Georgia Mrs. Maia Bitadze, the State Attorney in Kakheti Region Mr. Irakli Shioshvili, the Head of Policy Planning and Governmental Coordination Department of the GoG’s Administration Mr. Vakhtang Katamadze, the Director of Tbilservise Group Ltd Mr. Davit Pachulia, SIDA’s Program Officer Ms. Khatuna Zaldastanishvili, the members of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Board of the GoG engaged in the To Map Circular Economy in Georgia Project, and other invited guests.

The fourth Plenary Meeting was opened by the Chair of GSNE “Orchis” Dr. Mariam Kimeridze. The Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Acad. Solomon Pavliashvili, the Head of Development Cooperation /Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Sweden Mr. Erik Illes, and the Chair of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament of Georgia Mrs. Maia Bitadze made their welcoming speeches.

Since the third Plenary Meeting on 4th March 2022, when the preliminary results of the complex assessment of the circularity level of Georgian economy were presented, considerable work has been carried out. The circularity mapping process has been significantly advanced to the critical point, when the major portion of the Circularity Mapping Report for Georgia has been already drafted, and feedback of the key stakeholders is required to proceed.

Therefore, the fourth Plenary Meeting was summoned to discuss the progress made, among them the methodology and approaches used, main stages of the mapping process, key findings and circularity recommendations that are based on snap-shot picture of Georgian economy created through the collection and collation of statistical data stored in the databases of various Georgian agencies as well as the intensive consultations held with different governmental agencies, municipalities, business associations and representatives of private businesses.

The fourth Plenary Meeting also included a roundtable discussion for the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Board of the GoG on circular economy vision, ambition level and perspectives for Georgia to get their feedback on these important aspects to feed this information into the Circularity Mapping Report for Georgia.

Together with the above mentioned, 2022 Circularity Gap Report for Sweden was presented to demonstrate the experience of the country which is well-ahead of Georgia on the way to the circularity.

Mapping how circular is the economy of Georgia and developing recommendations for the Circular Economy Strategy are the first steps needed for the accelerated transition to circularity. Through the financial support of the Government of Sweden, this process was commenced in 2020 by the GSNE “Orchis” in close cooperation and active engagement of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. This Ministry also ensured the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Board of the Government of Georgia as the main objectives of the project call for a close collaboration with key governmental structures to enable appropriate mapping of the current circularity level of the national economy and to establish appropriate national quantitative circular economy policy targets and circular ambitions.

The implementation of the circular economy mapping programme is led by the project’s International Expert in the Circular Economy Dr. Dariusz Prasek – Doctor in Environmental Engineering, International Expert in Sustainable Finance, Environmental, Social and Governance Areas, former Director of Operations in Environmental and Sustainability Department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), member of the United Nations Advisory Board on Circular Economy, and Independent Expert on Development Financing at IDB Invest. He is supported by a group of local experts having a sound knowledge of the Georgian economy and environmental, social, governance and sustainable development issues. The Inter-Ministerial Coordination Board of the Government of Georgia, which includes members from different government departments to ensure broad expertise and early buy-in from key departments, has been actively engaged in the mapping process from the initial stage.

The circularity mapping is a complex process. To perform it, the Task Team has conducted a three step assessment of economic sectors of Georgia in terms of circularity. This included screening of economic sectors, assessment of selected sectors in circularity context, and re-estimation of circularity potential of each sector, prioritization and clustering. Based on this process, the Circularity Mapping Report is being prepared for Georgia to provide a snap-shot picture of economy with circularity highlight as well as recommendations how circularity level could be increased. At present major portion of the Circularity Mapping Report has been already prepared, and the draft document will be made available shortly. It will consider the feedback of key stakeholders obtained on the fourth Plenary Meeting regarding the main findings and circularity recommendations presented, as well as their opinion on the vision, ambition level and perspectives for Georgia that they expressed during the roundtable discussion organized during this meeting.

The project ‘To Map Circular Economy in Georgia’ has been implemented through funding of the Government of Sweden to accelerate the transition to the circularity through setting national quantitative circular economy policy targets and circular ambitions, identifying sector circular economy opportunities, mapping priority sectors for circular economy initiatives and sector-specific policy options, and developing recommendations for the Circular Economy Roadmap and Strategy of Georgia.

The fourth Plenary Meeting was organized in the frames of the project ‘To Map Circular Economy in Georgia’ commonly by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and GSNE “Orchis”. The project is being implemented by GSNE “Orchis”, through funding of the Government of Sweden, with the support of Georgian Ministries of Environmental Protection & Agriculture, Economy & Sustainable Development, Regional Development & Infrastructure, and Education & Science.