Korça Waste Management and the Territorial Reform in Albania

Abstract

Albania’s legal framework is relatively liberal in allowing inter-municipal cooperation (IMC). The country’s local government law suggests that any exclusive functions of local government can also be undertaken jointly by multiple local governments to obtain the desired result. Korca Regional Waste Management Company (KRWM) is an IMC entity, founded with public capital owned by the municipalities of Korca region in Albania, and serves around 300,000 inhabitants in the region within six municipalities. KRWM operations, after the country’s territorial and administrative restructuring, reducing the number of local governments from 384 to 61 in 2015, have increased the opportunity to provide necessary financial support and speed up the decision-making process. Several aspects of IMC were facilitated by the recently introduced law on the functioning of local government, recognizing the IMC as a means that municipalities can use for public service delivery.