Referendum against waste import

Civil society lawyers confirm that they requested the repeal of Article 3.22 of the Waste Management Law, which allows unlimited import of urban waste from abroad. They also requested the repeal of article 49 which allows the waste import from foreign countries, based on the green list approved recently by the Environment Ministry.

Unofficial sources confirm that the Constitutional Court has voted in favour of the referendum request with only one vote against it. However, no official verdict is published on their website yet.

Environmentalists and the civil society asked the repeal of these articles from the waste management law, since the customs and expertise structures in Albania are not ready to keep this dangerous import under control.

The civil society underlined that by repealing these articles the waste import will not increase, as the government suggests, but will be lower. Based on the Bazel Convention, every member state will not be able send waste to Albania without permission from the Albanian government and if the economic operators are not licensed.

According to the Constitution, the referendum cannot be held six months before or after the general elections and three months after the next Parliament will gather, which makes it 15 March 2014.

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