The instrument aims to develop the region of Andalusia through planning and interventions in key fields. It is thematic objective 6 of the ERDF regional policy instrument - to preserve and protect the environment and to promote resource efficiency- that is addressed through the project, specifically investment priority 6.1.- waste management: actions supporting the development of separation, separate collection and treatment. The main objective of investment line 6.1. is to ensure the management of non-hazardous waste in the region of Andalusia addressed under quality standards in terms of both fair service to the citizenship and associated rigorous environmental protection. INTHERWASTE can provide further improvements to the policy instrument approach providing that the focus of the project is placed on waste management in Heritage Cities. The project explores how to simultaneously observe the environmental aspects of waste management processes - emphasis placed on separate deposit and collection and recycling-, and integrate waste management related elements with the surrounding urban heritage, whether it is protected or not. This is something that is missing in the policy instrument. In addition, the project can improve the policy instrument by incorporating notions for guiding better practices in the region for already established priorities - separation, separate collection and treatment-, as the policy instrument is generalist when addressing how to approach them.  

The North 2020 is the financial instrument that supports regional development of Northern Portugal, with a budget of 3.4 billion Euros. It is organised into 10 Priority Axes in areas such as Research, Technological Development and Innovation; Competitiveness of SMEs; Low Carbon Economy; Environmental Quality; Urban System; Employment and Workers´ Mobility or Social Inclusion and Poverty, among others.  It is priority axis 5 “Urban System” that it is addressed through INTHERWASTE, specifically thematic objective 6 “preservation and protection of the environment and resource efficiency” ; investment priority 6e concerns  “adoption of measures to improve the urban environment, revitalise cities, recover and decontaminate brownfield sites including conversion areas, reduce air pollution and promote noise reduction measures."   The policy instrument can be improved in order to make the guidance for efficient and sustainable waste management more specific and oriented, incorporating specific notions to promote prevention and valorisation in the region on a regular guided basis. Moreover there is room for the policy incorporating specificities for waste-related interventions in heritage urban areas; this is of importance for the special affluence of tourism and consequent production of waste and because of the aesthetic impact of waste and some waste-oriented solutions.

Thematic objective 6 of Regional Structural Funds addresses “preserving and protecting the environment and promoting efficient use of resources”. Priority 6a within concerns specifically investing in the waste sector to meet the obligations imposed by European Union legislation on the environment and to meet the needs identified by the member state as well as promoting investments going beyond these obligations. According to 6.1. – optimisation of municipal waste management according to the European hierarchy, the specific objectives in the region of Sicily are: 6.1.1. To implement the activities envisaged in the National Plan for Waste Prevention, and 6.1.2. To achieve better waste separation systems and an adequate network of waste collection centres. The policy instrument has room to be improved by further developing the contents concerning separate waste deposit, collection, and treatment in Sicilian cities, aiming at including advanced specific procedures and systems, and also incorporating the integration of waste management within the urban scenario into the instrument. 

The programme’s main objective is to increase the competitiveness of the Malopolska region. Priority axis 5 concerns environmental protection and Action 5.2. specifically concerns the development and implementation of a proper waste management system in the Malopolska region, including the city of Krakow. To reach that goal it is necessary to take strategic actions such as waste prevention, selective waste collection, preparation for reuse and recycling, as well as other recovery and disposal processes. Waste recycling is a field that needs to be further explored in the policy instrument so selective collection is imperative now in Poland in order to meet national legal obligations, which will be complemented with formal protocols and measures for recycling. Moreover, the notion of integrating the waste management systems and devices into the heritage contexts of many parts of the cities needs to be explored and systematised in the regional policy instrument as well as in the local ones. 

It deals with the situation of waste management in the administrative district and describes planning objectives for the organisation and rationalisation of waste management as well as measures required to achieve these objectives. It is the strategic waste plan in the city area. Objectives of the plan are: - Conducting different research studies and surveys on the subject, informing the citizens - Informing the citizens on waste management in Tallinn - Improving separate collection and sorting of waste, in accordance with the waste hierarchy, favouring alternative methods for waste treatment.  - Organising waste collection in the whole city, and - Cooperation with neighbouring municipalities. This policy instrument can be improved by producing tailored regulation and planning for waste management in Tallinn Old Town, a currently inexistent approach. The need for it is made evident and in the next Plan from 2016 onwards Tallinn Old Town is expected to be considered as a special district with unique challenges in waste management due to the fact that its historic heritage conditions the interventions. These special circumstances for waste management in Old Town have not been previously addressed previously. The current Waste Management Plan 2012-2016 will be shortly replaced with a new one whose contents can be clearly influenced by the results of the cooperation. 

The Public Waste Collection Sheet under way since 2016 deals with the different needs of the municipality of Ibiza with regard to waste including the heritage city and limiting areas. It has facilitated more and better resources and procedures to be implemented and the fact of a strategic plan for waste management being currently under study. INTHERWASTE can further improve the Public Waste Collection Sheet in force as the focus of the project is placed on waste management in Heritage Cities. The project explores how to simultaneously observe environmental aspects of waste management processes - emphasis placed on separate deposit and collection and recycling – and integrate waste management related elements with the surrounding urban heritage. This approach can enable tailored regulation and planning in our Local Waste Collection Sheet as well as in future strategic documents.