Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

Deputy Minister Pavliashvili joins an online session “ensuring biodegradable packaging in Georgia” within the EU and UN-supported programme

The “EU Innovative Action for Private Sector Competitiveness in Georgia” is a joint initiative of the European Union and four UN Agencies – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which hosted an online session on “ensuring biodegradable packaging in Georgia”. Deputy Minister of the Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Mr Solomon Pavliashvili delivered opening remarks at the event, which enjoyed presence of Mr. Alexander Daras, Thematic Sector Coordinator, Connectivity, Energy , Environment and Climate Change, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Ms Louisa Vinton, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and European experts.

“As you are aware, Georgia has been permitting solely standard-based and compliance biodegradable and compostable packaging production, import and realization since 2019. However, Georgia is part of the world which suffers from packaging pollution, thus exaggerated usage of these in a daily life remains as a major drawback. The respective programme and initiative is of utmost importance, which entails sharing of an international best practices and experiences” – Deputy Minister Pavliashvili stated.

Deputy Minister Pavliashvili thanked EU and UNDP for their support and stressed out on the importance of environmental policy and crucial elements for enhancing circular economy in Georgia.

Throughout the meeting, Deputy Minister Pavliashvili elaborated on the Swedish Government and Embassy-supported project “Keep Georgia Tidy” and stressed out importance of developing circular economy strategy for Georgia, which entails transfer to a new environmental policy-making for the country – that underpins enhancement of circular economy.

The meeting also entailed discussion on general standards of biodegradable packaging and quality aspects for their use in food products; discussions evolved around packaging producers and supporting Georgian producers, respectively.