The municipal waste management field in the Mediterranean suffers from multiple drawbacks and chronic problems that require strategic solutions and collaboration among various institutions and stakeholders. To tackle the issue of organic waste more specifically, decentralized actions are increasingly being considered as a viable solution.

The EU funded “Water and Environment Support (WES) in the ENI Neighbourhood South Region” project joined forces with ENI CBCMED Med4Waste, and organised a regional workshop and study visit from 24 to 26 October 2023 in Cagliari, Sardinia on “Decentralized management of municipal organic waste in the Mediterranean”. Both projects are directly supporting the implementation of the UfM’s 2030GreenerMed Agenda, while the event also constituted the Final Capitalisation meeting of the Med4Waste project.

More than 40 key stakeholders from most countries of the region, inclusive of policy makers, local authorities, the private sector and civil society organisations, participated in the workshop sessions and also visited the Arborea municipal solid waste sorting and treatment plant; a Municipal Collection Center in Calgiari that complements the city’s door-to-door scheme in place and aims to increase separate waste collection and promote environmental awareness; and the Esposito Group’s Ecocenter that processes beach waste (particularly posidonia), recovers every single grain of sand and returns it to the beach of origin, while recovering the organic fraction present and making it suitable for re-use in agriculture or green building. The trainees were able to directly interact with the local policymakers, entrepreneurs and community members learn valuable insights and exchange experiences.