A community clean-up event was held in Amman on 4 July with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Union and a group of international donors.
The one-day event brought together young people, families and local stakeholders for a clean-up of a public park, with activities focused on responsible waste disposal and environmental awareness, the European External Action Service announced on Sunday.
It ran alongside a public discussion involving community members, local authorities and environmental experts on waste management challenges and possible solutions.
Organisers also gathered feedback from residents on local waste services, which was described as input for future awareness campaigns and policy decisions by the EU Delegation to Jordan.
Attendees included Greater Amman Municipality mayor Youssef Shawarbeh, EBRD Eastern Mediterranean director Gretchen Biery and EU ambassador to Jordan Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, along with environmental experts and community representatives.
Wider work on waste services in Amman
The clean-up was part of an EBRD-backed initiative supporting improvements to solid waste management systems in Jordan — solid waste refers to everyday rubbish collected from homes, streets and businesses — the EU Delegation to Jordan said.
The EBRD has worked with the Greater Amman Municipality since 2015 on waste management projects with support from the EU and donors, including Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, the TaiwanBusiness – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the United Kingdom.
Support has included financing for infrastructure such as an additional landfill cell at Al Ghabawi landfill and a landfill gas recovery system that generates electricity from waste.
Amman has also joined the EBRD Green Cities programme, under which the EBRD and the Green Climate Fund are supporting investments in solid waste management in the capital with EU-backed guarantees.
A separate EBRD and EU solid waste awareness campaign was delivered in 20 public schools in Amman in 2019 and reached more than 2,000 students from Jordan and Syria.
