Conference in Tehran Strengthens Iranian-German Waste Management Sector Cooperation

More than 200 participants discussed the challenges faced by the Iranian waste management sector and the potentials offered by Iranian-German waste management sector cooperation. The Iranian participants showed particular interest in options for the treatment and disposal of industrial waste.

In 2016, Iran opened itself to the international community both economically and politically. The Iranian waste management sector can also benefit from this dynamic, moving past the stalled modernization of the recent years. International partners, e.g. Germany, can decisively support the modernization of the Iranian waste management sector through the provision of advisory services and technology transfer.

Focus on Potentials for Cooperation between Germany and Iran

With this background as its starting point, the Iranian-German Waste Management Conference took place in Tehran on 25 February 2017 as part of the UFOPLAN project "International Transfer of Waste Management Concepts" funded by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The aim of the event was to bring together representatives of the Iranian and German waste sectors to promote dialogue on the potentials offered by collaboration between the two countries.

The conference was opened by Dr Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice-President of Iran and Head of the Iranian Environment Agency, as well as by Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of the Environment. Following the opening, the project team presented the preliminary project results as well as the central points of the previously published country study. The extended circle of participants were thus able to become familiar with the approach and results of the project.

Special attention paid to often hazardous industrial waste

In the further course of the conference, company representatives from Germany presented their waste technologies and services. It was found that there is a great need for treatment and disposal solutions for municipal waste in Iran, and that German know-how is in great demand there. However, due to the great importance of the oil, gas and petrochemical industries for the Iranian economy, the main focus of the Iranian participants was on the treatment and disposal of industrial waste, some of it hazardous.

The conference was jointly organised by the Iranian Department of Environment (DoE), Tehran University, and adelphi. In order to maintain the dialogue strengthened in Tehran, a final international conference as part of the UFOPLAN project in Germany is planned for the spring of 2018.

Further information, images, and the presentations of the German participants can be found on the project website.