The Avaza national tourism zone hosted a seminar organized by the State Committee for Environment Protection and Land Resources of Turkmenistan jointly with the European Union project “Support to the introduction of Sustainable Development policies – Rational Use of Natural Resources in the Energy-Environment Sectors in Turkmenistan”. The seminar that completed the multilevel events of the large-scale EU environmental project, launched in June 2014, brought together local and international experts, advisors of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other international organizations and financial institutions. The specialists of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Economy and Development of Turkmenistan, the Turkmengaz State Concern, the Institute for Strategic Planning and Economic Development as well as other agencies and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan took part in the meeting. The meeting agenda focused on the transition to the rational models of consumption and production, where the energy efficiency and organization of recycling of domestic and industrial waste as priority factors to preserve natural resources and promote the efficiency of production play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Particular attention during the meeting was paid to the energy audit in private manufacturing facilities as a rapidly growing sector of the national economy. In this regard, speaking during the meeting, Director of the Kazakhstan data collection and processing centre - JSC ""Institute of Electricity development and Energy Saving"" Erlan Bokayev told about the achievements in the field of energy saving and energy efficiency in the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the EU Project experts Dovlet Hangeldyev, Toby Philpot and Catherine Podzina, highlighted the international energy efficiency standards. The issues of financing projects on energy modernization of budget social facilities, including kindergartens, schools, street lighting, and strategic maps on energy efficiency of cities, regions, industries and the country were discussed during the meeting. The European Waste Management Strategy, which was presented by the EU Project international expert - Benoit Plaige, introduced the advanced practices of hard domestic waste management to the seminar participants. The key issues of waste stream management and strategic approaches to address the challenges in Turkmenistan were considered during the meeting. The specialist of the Hazar environmental control service, Kemal Ahmadov told about their application based on the examples of waste management on the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea. The oil and gas companies working there use the zero waste effluent, protecting environment in the working area. Drilling wastes are collected in metal containers on offshore platforms, household wastes are gathered in storage tanks and oily wastes - in special containers. The products are transported by special vehicles or pumped out to the waste utilization facilities on the shore. A cluster of modern industrial and transport enterprises has been created on the Caspian coast in recent years. The environmental safety system used there includes a complex of measures aimed at eliminating natural environment damage, reducing risks and man-made impacts on the fragile ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. Wastes generated at enterprises are utilized with advanced technologies, including biological treatment plants. Innovative treatment facilities are built in all industrial facilities in Kiyanly, Garabogaz, Hazar, Turkmenbashi. Modern treatment plants will be put into operation at the Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries by the end of the year. National experts made the presentations on the national and international environmental programmes during the seminar.