Water and wastewater connections in 2025
Geostat’s survey of water-supply enterprises reports that 2.87 million people were connected to the water-supply industry at the end of 2025. Wastewater collection served 2.06 million people, while treatment facilities served 1.64 million. The publication was released on 26 June 2026. These are different infrastructure measures, rather than three estimates of the same service. [1]
| Service | People connected | Share of population in the publication |
|---|---|---|
| Water supply | 2.87 million | 72.8% |
| Wastewater collection | 2.06 million | 52.3% |
| Wastewater treatment | 1.64 million | 41.6% |
The gap between supply, collection and treatment points towards distinct engineering work. Water networks use pumping, pressure control and metering; sewer systems and treatment facilities have their own civil works, equipment and operating skills. The national picture is useful for understanding the sector, while municipal and utility project records identify the individual purchases.
Utility investment and 2026 project preparation
The EBRD’s 2024 annual review records a USD 40 million investment in Georgia Global Utilities’ USD 300 million green Eurobond, supporting water-network improvements in Tbilisi, including work addressing water loss. [2] The utility’s purchasing arrangements determine how equipment suppliers and contractors participate in the financed programme.
A more recent public-project example is the World Bank’s Georgia Water Supply, Sanitation, Wastewater, and Hazardous Waste preparation operation, P518850. A procurement plan was disclosed on 22 October 2026. [3] An expression-of-interest notice followed on 30 October. [9] These records concern project preparation and consultancy procurement, rather than completed infrastructure.
For an engineering business, the project stage changes the available work. Studies, design and environmental documentation can precede construction packages; equipment supply and ongoing maintenance follow their own contracts. Georgia’s engineering guide explains the wider purchasing environment, while the official procurement records establish the individual opportunity and deadline.
Producer responsibility and waste collection
Article 9 of the Waste Management Code establishes extended producer responsibility, including collection and treatment obligations for relevant products and the use of authorised collective organisations. The ministry’s electronic registry provides the administrative interface for producers and importers. [4] This places some demand for waste services with businesses bringing products onto the market, alongside ordinary municipal waste services.
The product category matters. Batteries, tyres, used oils and electrical equipment have different handling and treatment chains. An electronics importer, automotive distributor and waste collector can participate in the same broader system without having the same legal role. The applicable technical regulation and current implementation arrangements determine the obligations for a particular product; a general circular-economy headline does not settle them.
The ministry’s April 2026 account of environmental-policy discussions described packaging and end-of-life vehicle regulations as work in progress at that time. [5] The dated statement shows the regulatory agenda moving beyond the established waste streams. Current obligations follow the enacted instruments and their commencement provisions.
The 2025–2027 circular-economy programme is now under way
In October 2025, the EU and UN partners launched a EUR 4.4 million initiative for 2025–2027, implemented by UNDP, UNIDO and the Environment Agency Austria. UNDP identifies producer responsibility, recycling infrastructure and access to finance among the programme’s subjects. [6]
Its April 2026 call for proposals covered collection, storage, transport, treatment and recovery projects. The call targeted eligible producer-responsibility and non-profit organisations and closed on 11 May 2026. [7] It is useful evidence of the activities receiving support; it is not a presently open grant for every commercial recycling company.
The programme also helps explain why recycling cannot be described solely as the purchase of a machine. Material has to be collected, separated and delivered in a usable form, and recovered output needs a customer. A plastics recycler, an oil-treatment operator and a battery collection business therefore have different input contracts, equipment and sales markets.
Scrap metal and industrial buyers
GeoSteel identifies local scrap metal as an input for its Rustavi reinforcing-bar production. [8] This connects collection with a named industrial customer and a finished product sold into construction. Scrap preparation, transport and material specifications consequently sit within a manufacturing supply chain.
For a recovery business, the buyer’s specification determines the value of the output. Contamination, moisture, material grade and the size of a delivery can affect whether a recovered material is usable. This makes industrial customers part of the Georgian recycling market, rather than treating waste collection as an activity ending at the gate of a sorting facility.
Industrial water and waste services belong in the supplier map
Food processors, hotels, factories and mineral producers have different water-use and waste profiles. The food-processing guide, hotel guide and minerals guide identify the businesses and locations behind those activities. A supplier of filtration, measurement or recovery equipment may consequently be selling to an industrial operator rather than to a utility.
The source of demand should remain visible. A utility investment programme, a producer-responsibility contract and a factory’s equipment purchase are separate commercial transactions. Contact Market Entry for Georgian customer and operator research in water, environmental equipment and material recovery.