EcoContact presents Moldova's experience in managing national pollutant release and transfer register in Tirana

A subregional workshop dedicated to improving pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTR) in the Western Balkans and Moldova was held in Tirana, Albania, on September 30-October 1, 2025.  The event brought together representatives from environmental authorities, experts and civil society organizations, including the EcoContact association, aiming to exchange best practices and align with new European requirements.

The discussions focused on harmonizing national legislation with European Union regulations, modernizing PRTR software applications, integrating automatic emission calculations and on international trends regarding the enforcement of the European Directive 1244/2024 on industrial emissions and the PRTR Protocol.

Moldova was represented by environmental expert Ion Marin from the EcoContact organization, who unveiled the national experience regarding the "Pollutant Release and Transfer Register" (PRTR) Information System, launched in 2018. This system publishes data on emissions to air, water and soil, as well as waste transfers reported by economic operators. Presently, over 300 industrial installations of Moldova are registered in the PRTR.

Ion Marin emphasized both the progress made and the existing challenges.

"Although the national legal framework (Government Decision no. 373/2018) allows for the register to work, there are significant differences from European standards. They include incomplete reporting of energy and water consumption, the lack of mechanisms for including emerging pollutants, such as PFAS substances or microplastics, we well as the need to modernize the digital platform to ensure interoperability with national and European databases," the expert estimated.

The workshop in Tirana was organized by the Regional Environmental Center Albania and the company Participatio Ltd., with support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency.