ACR+ is launching a survey to gather data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on municipal waste management systems. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the crisis, to identifying effective solutions and to increasing the resilience of municipal solid waste collection systems. The survey is the continuation of an initiative started in March 2020, in the first hours of the pandemic, mapping how public authorities in Europe and beyond reacted and adapted their waste management systems to the urgency of the situation.
Brussels, Belgium – The COVID-19 pandemic has already had tremendous impacts on the waste sector. While the pandemic was progressing and lockdowns imposed in many countries, public authorities and municipal waste operators had to rapidly adapt their waste management systems and procedures to the situation. Replying to requests from its members, ACR+ gathered information on several systems and solutions implemented across Europe and beyond with the aim of exchanging practices and experiences. The result of this initiative, including an infographic summarizing the observed trends in March, is available on the ACR+ website.
Now that the situation has evolved and most of the countries are progressively easing lockdown measures, ACR+ is working on assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at local level regarding municipal waste management. The network’s aim is to identify interesting practices and analyse the key factors to increase the capacity of waste management systems to respond to health crises while keeping prevention and recycling high on the agenda. It will lead to the publication of an aggregated analysis, accompanied by highlights on specific practices.
Share your experience with ACR+!
ACR+ wants to hear directly from municipal and local authorities (or their waste operators) about the consequences of the crisis on their waste system. Their experience is essential to understand and assess the impact of the COVID-19 in particular regarding the services provided, the quantities collected, health and safety measures, finances and communication to users.
Are you a municipal or local authority? You can contribute to ACR+ work and share your experience by filling out an online survey, open until the end of July 2020.
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