Within the activities for improving the sustainable waste management system of the municipalities of the Greater Tunis, the EU-funded A’SIMA Tunis project, implemented by MedCities, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), and Tunis Municipality, launched in February 2024 the feasibility studies and construction plans for the pilot project, consisting in a multipurpose eco-center for waste management.

The eco-center will include 4 modules, namely a waste collection center, a sorting and selective classification of the waste unit, a bulky items management unit, and a transfer center. The Eco-Center will involve 7 municipalities in the south of Tunis, namely Tunis, El Mourouj, Sidi Hessine, Radès, Megrine, Bardo, and Ben Arous, while MedCities and the AMB will accompany technically this process in the context of the A’SIMA Tunis project.

The feasibility studies will include an analysis of the environmental, social, institutional, and economical dimensions of the pilot project and will be held by a consortium of a Spanish company with significant international experience together with a Tunisian firm that will be present on the ground. Representatives of MedCities, the AMB, and the consortium met on Thursday 15 February at the AMB headquarters for the official launch of the feasibility studies and a meeting was organised with the Municipality of Tunis, in presence on 28 February.

In addition to these developments, A’SIMA Tunis was represented in the Partnership for Sustainable Cities’ second global meeting that was held in the AMB headquarters in Barcelona on 12-14 March through the participation of MedCities. A’SIMA Tunis is one of the projects benefitting from the funds of this global initiative aiming to strengthen urban governance as well as the social, environmental and economic sustainability of cities. The exchanges focused on a discussion on the importance of decentralised cooperation as part of the Global Europe Strategy and the need to create opportunities for local authorities to access European international cooperation funds. An overview of the results of several projects was done during the meeting and A’SIMA Tunis project representatives contributed to the works of the working groups on green and sustainable cities.