Azerbaijan focuses on waste recycling in transition to green economy - minister

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 30. The transition to a "green" economy in the conditions of crisis and current realities is a priority for developing countries, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the public meeting on the "Green energy and clean environment: prospects for business development" topic.

According to him, there is a rapid transition to "green" technologies, waste recycling, and decarbonization projects are being implemented in the world today.

"We cooperate with the world's leading companies in the field of transition to a "green" economy and "green" energy in Azerbaijan. I want to emphasize that this transformation ensures the sustainability of economic growth, as well as the investment attractiveness of the country," he said.

Babayev noted that Azerbaijan has a huge potential in the field of solar and wind energy.

"We are working on the implementation of renewable energy sources, as well as bio-processing and reuse of household waste, both at the local level and in partnership with international companies. There are dozens of companies operating in Azerbaijan today that produce various products from bio-waste and export them to foreign markets," he stressed.

The minister also said that more than 3 million trees are planned to be planted in Azerbaijan this year, including in the liberated territories [from Armenian occupation after Second Karabakh War].

"We are also working in the field of effective water resources management. In particular, we are talking about both drinking water and irrigation. We are working on creating a legal regulation of the reuse of water," Babayev said.

He also noted that it is planned to create a "green" zone in the liberated territories.

"The destruction in Karabakh during the Armenian occupation caused enormous damage to nature and natural resources. We consider it is important to work on the restoration of both the territories and nature in partnership with private sector representatives," he added.