The Ministry of Climate and Energy has prepared recommendations to support municipalities in improving the municipal waste management system, as well as to promote the transition to a circular economy.
The aim of the recommendations is to support municipalities in the development and improvement of binding regulations and in their daily work by ensuring and organizing a more convenient and accessible waste sorting infrastructure and more available and understandable information for all residents – regardless of whether they live in cities, towns, or rural areas. The recommendations provide opportunities to strengthen cooperation between municipalities, waste managers, residential building managers, public event organizers, and the public as a whole.
Main directions of the recommendations for municipalities:
Closer cooperation with residential building managers. Municipalities are recommended to specify the competence of residential building managers, providing for their more active involvement in informing residents about waste sorting opportunities and benefits. At the same time, it is recommended that municipalities emphasize the obligation of residential building managers to monitor waste collection frequency, container filling levels, as well as the obligation to provide residents with information about proper waste sorting.
Conditions for public event organizers to ensure environmentally friendly public events. The recommendations highlight the necessity for municipalities to require public event organizers to implement waste reduction measures, including informing event visitors about waste sorting opportunities during events, using deposit containers for catering, and other sustainable solutions.
Cooperation between involved parties. The Ministry encourages municipalities to establish a mechanism ensuring regular information exchange between the municipality, waste managers, residential building managers, and residents – for example, through working groups or advisory councils.
Transparent and comprehensive information on municipal websites. Municipalities are recommended to ensure that residents have access to information about all types of waste management in one place – including the management of electrical equipment, construction waste, bulky and hazardous municipal waste. At the same time, municipalities are invited to inform residents about the website Šķiro viegli - https://skiroviegli.lv/#, where up-to-date information about sorted waste collection points is conveniently available.
Application of the “pay-as-you-throw” principle. Municipalities are recommended to consider the possibility of setting waste management fees based on the actual volume collected (by weight), introducing the “pay-as-you-throw” principle. This means that municipalities, when organizing waste management service procurements, provide that waste collection vehicles are equipped to determine the weight of collected waste. The introduction of such an approach should be assessed in each case separately, as it entails specific requirements for the necessary technical equipment to implement such a system. It should also be evaluated whether in a particular area it is possible to fully utilize such equipment and whether it is economically justified. It should be noted that setting a fee based on the actual weight of waste can provide a significant incentive for residents to sort waste at the place where it is generated, as this can simultaneously reduce payments for unsorted municipal waste management.
In the process of developing the recommendations, the Ministry has taken into account the binding regulations of municipalities on municipal waste management in force in 2024, as well as complaints submitted by residents about the quality and availability of services. Additionally, in the development of the recommendations, the Ministry relied on the conclusions and proposals (Part 1 and Part 2) prepared as a result of six regional seminars organized in September and October 2024 within the LIFE integrated project “Waste To Resources Latvia - boosting regional sustainability and circularity” (LIFE Waste To Resources IP) on various topics related to waste management and the transition to a circular economy.
These recommendations are of an advisory nature but provide a clear roadmap for how to gradually improve the waste management system and make it more efficient, responsible, accessible to residents, and environmentally friendly in each municipality. Municipalities are invited to evaluate the developed recommendations and include the recommended measures in binding regulations, waste management procurement documentation, or other municipal planning documents.
The Ministry invites municipalities to actively use these recommendations as a support tool to implement modern and sustainable waste management based on the waste management hierarchy, starting with waste prevention, and meeting the needs of residents while ensuring the efficient use of resources.
The recommendations are available here
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