MedCities, in collaboration with the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) and GIZ Libya, organised a study visit focusing on integrated waste management on 10-12 December 2024. This activity was part of both MedCities Working Group on Waste Management which is carried out with the AMB support through the COMPAS-MED project, and the “Enhancing regional exchanges for local service provision in Libya” project, which is implemented within the framework of a collaboration with GIZ Libya.

The objective of the study visit was to showcase the best practices Barcelona and its metropolitan area have been implementing over the years in waste management and enable participants to exchange experiences.

The Libyan delegation consisted of 11 participants, including six representatives of the municipalities of Misrata, Janzour, Central Tripoli, Idri-Al-Shati, Tobruk and Shahat as well as 5 representatives of the Libyan Ministry of Local Governments.

The members of MedCities working group included the representatives of the cities of Ein El Basha, As Salt, Jerash (Jordan), Al Fayhaa, Higher Chouf (Lebanon) and M’Saken (Tunisia).

On the first day of the study visit, participants had the opportunity to have an introduction to Barcelona’s waste management collection system, including the “Green points” (special waste recycling disposal), funding system, public-private partnerships and education and awareness. The Director of Sant Antoni market showcased how the waste collection was managed in Barcelona municipal markets and an AMB waste prevention technician introduced the programme “Millor que nou” (better than new), offering trainings, workshops, repairing mentoring and products swaps to foster local circular economy.

On the 11^th of December, participants visited Viladecans waste separation centre and could discuss about waste treatment, the social dimension of waste management, governance and some circular economy initiatives hosted by the centre. In the afternoon, the visit was held in Tiana to introduce the door-to-door collection system implemented in this city which is pioneer in this field as well as the management of individual compost network.

The visit ended on that day with a presentation of the initiative “La Biblioteca de las coses” (the library of things), a platform set to share objects and products at the community level instead of buying new products, tackling waste production.

The last day was organized for the Libyan delegation with a visit to Gavà plastic waste sorting centre and a session to wrap-up the study visit and highlight the lessons learnt throughout this activity.

For MedCities working group, this 2-day activity was paramount in the 2024 working plan that concluded with the organisation of a second webinar on Tuesday 17 December. While the first webinar in November focused on the whole waste management cycle, this second session emphasized on circular economy and waste prevention. Best practices in that field from the cities of M’Saken, Zgharta (Lebanon) and Jerash were presented. MedCities is currently working on the 2025 working plan.

Regarding the project with GIZ Libya, another study visit on greening the cities will be organized in the months to come.