EQUAL project implemented
by WasteServ Malta
WasteServ Malta Ltd has started implementing an EU funded project designed to create employment opportunities by providing training for small scale recycling activities. This project was approved for EQUAL funding, which supports measures that combat inequalities and discrimination in access to work. The project is valued at €150,000 at a co-financing rate of 75%.
A Development Partnership Agreement was endorsed by three local NGOs that will provide assistance in the implementation of the project aimed at training 20 participants. WasteServ secured a partnership with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Richmond Foundation and Mid-Dlam ghad-Dawl, in order to involve a spectrum of individuals, including the homeless, persons with mental or intellectual difficulties and persons who had spent time at the Correctional Facility. Apart from these Maltese organisations, this project is also being implemented in collaboration with international partners.
Two transnational partnerships have been established in order to foster exchanges of experience and good practice. The first partnership includes organisations from Austria, Spain, Finland, France, Italy and Malta. Through this partnership, WasteServ will be exploring the possibility of creating a network of business training with a social aim. The second partnership includes organisations from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Malta and involves the provision of education and training for socially disadvantaged groups in society.
The project will be carried out by 20 participants who will be selected to train at the recycling workshop adjacent to the Parish Church in Pembroke. The trainees will be operating at a facility where small scale recycling activities will be carried out on daily basis. The recycling includes the refurbishment of old furniture and other bulky items, particularly electronic materials, as well as the creation of crafts from products and materials that are no longer aesthetically pleasing. The EQUAL project is directly related to other projects being implemented by WasteServ including the development of five civic amenity sites for the collection of separated bulky waste.
In March 2006 WasteServ hosted two meetings with partners from within the two transnational partnerships, in Malta. The first meeting took place between 13 - 15 March and involved the steering group meeting with partners from Austria, Finland, France, Italy and Spain. The second meeting was held between the 29 - 31 March and involved the project leaders meeting. The participating countries in this meeting include Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.