The financing bill for the SDK is set to make the deal more transparent. Mike Zenari.

The financing bill for the SDK is set to make the deal more transparent. Mike Zenari.

The contract between the government and the waste recycling centre SuperDrécksKëscht will operate within a stronger legal framework after a financing bill was voted in parliament on 16 June. The opposition wants to challenge the decision.

an expert opinion submitted to the chamber of deputies argues that there was no regulations in the deal binding the state and the waste management company SDK, a new law was accepted by a majority of 31 votes.

The scientific cell requested in September 2021 to audit the company had found that the legal framework from 2005 under which the public financing of SDK was set up did not meet the criteria for a special financing law. Such a law is required when “the contract constitutes a significant financial commitment by the state exceeding the threshold of €40m” and “the contract is a burden on the state budget for more than one financial year”. The government was also criticised of favouritism towards the SDK.

With the new bill, “the SDK share now operates on a stronger, more transparent governance model,” the environment ministry stated in a press release on 16 June.

Between 2018 and 2028, the government will finance up to a maximum of €112m of the work carried out by the waste recycling organisation.


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Opposition dissatisfied with bill

However, the bill does not please everyone. Opposition parties--the CSV, ADR, déi Lénk and the Pirate Party--said they intend to lodge a challenge with  the public prosecutor, as they consider there to be favouritism towards Oeko-Service Lëtzebuerg (the company that manages the Superdreckskëscht). Back in January, the opposition had said it wanted a new tender to be written so that other subcontractors could offer their services.

Meanwhile, new environment minister Joëlle Welfring said in her statement that she was “personally committed to closely monitoring the proper implementation of this reform process in the operation of the SDK and I am also committed to informing the Committee on the Environment, Climate, Energy and Spatial Planning of the Chamber of Deputies about this process and to inform them regularly.”