Vahan Martirosyan, a student at Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences has launched a series of seminars and discussions on waste management and recycling in Yerevan and the regions.

The project, called Zero Waste Communities, aims to engage young people through non-formal education methods and to instruct them about the process of waste collection and recycling.  

Martirosyan is a great believer in the potential of young people when it comes to solving community issues like waste management.  

Under the Zero Waste Communities project, communities will be provided with waste sorting bins. Vahan wants community youth to be able to self-organize and carry out waste collection and sorting work in their communities after receiving some instruction.

Vahan Martirosyan

Zero Waste Communities Project is partnering with the NGO Eco Aghb (Waste) within the frames of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility. Eco Aghb NGO members tour various communities, talking about their waste sorting and recycling activities and what waste recycling plants operate in Armenia.

Eco Aghb Director Hripsime Mkrtchyan says that awareness of waste recycling is important since those receiving training can serve as a link between citizens and the recycler. 

“Almost everything in Armenia is recycled - polyethylene, plastic, glass, paper, but the other question is what are the conditions of that recycling. Even if it is not collected, then the waste is collected from the garbage bins. The role of the state in this case is important. It should encourage recyclers by affording them some privileges,” Mkrtchyan.

Harutyun Alpetyan, a representative of the American University of Armenia's Hakobyan Environmental Center, says the best way to avoid garbage collection is to use a circular economy model. 

According to Alpetyan, either energy or another material can be derived from any type of material. It’s just a matter of assessing the risks involved.

Alpetyan says the Armenian economy is now based on a linear model; that is, the raw material is recycled, used, turned into garbage, thus increasing the amount of residential and technical waste.