RECO Baltic 21 Tech (RB21T) has aimed to facilitate for local and regional decision makers to perform sustainable waste management investments. RB21T has developed a Joint BSR Strategy for Waste Management that makes use of 'best practices' from regional and national strategies. All together RB21T has contributed towards sustainable waste management and development by putting into practice a systematic approach to Waste Management and providing a platform that enables a BSR-wide co-operation to address the challenges posed. The overall objective of RB21T has been to strengthen the local, regional and nationel capacity in the implementation of waste management strategies to assist all to climb in the waste hierarchy. A Joint Strategy was needed due to the large differences identified in the approach on how to fulfill the goals set by EU among countries something that slows down the process of adjusting the waste management system towards EU regulations and sustainable development . RB21T's partnership was carefully selected to be able to meet the challenges faced in contemporary Waste Management in the BSR - It consisted of problem owners, policy makers and experts in waste management and in systematic approach. RB21T represents the BSR by 12 partners and 3 associate partners from 8 countries. RB21T has also achieved flagship status under the EUSBSR (HA Sustain) as well as CBSS Lighthouse status which gives great oportunities to spread the project results. RB21T has directly targeted and assisted more than 30 decision makers on local/regional, national and EU-level about how to realise sustainable waste management investments. To realise this, not only a Joint Strategy but also an investment model has been developed. To enhance the discussion among decision makers a Baltic Waste Management Council (BWMC) was established – an important and necessary forum. 18 pilots have been carried out implementing the methods and tools developed in the project as well as giving input to structural hinders for the BSR in order to progress in waste management and altogether climb in the waste hierarchy (1. waste prevention 2. waste reuse 3. material recycling 4. energy recovery 5. disposal). Alarming is that still in Poland 95% of the house hold waste (MSW) goes to landfill - in Sweden and Germany it is less than 3%. The areas for the pilots are 1. Material recycling, 2. Biological treatment, 3.Recovery of landfill gas. The project has unlocked investments of near 30 Million Euro linked to these pilots. RB21T has established a transnational and cross-sectorial platform for expertise exchange in waste management, which will increase the competitiveness of the region, this database is available on the projec't website. Achievements: Within RB21T 18 pilots have been carefully selected in order to improve their present unique and current situation and to provide feedback to the Investment Concept and the Joint Strategy. They were selected to learn from and study the process in different countries of the Baltic Sea Region and to exchange experiences. The pilots were also important to achieve the goal of unlocking funds for waste management investments. Activities that have been carried out are for example a comprehensive workshop with financing institutions, matchmaking activities and study visits.The main output from the project is the Joint Strategy and Investment Concept – both with the aim to assist the BSR to climb in the waste hierarchy and reach the EU targets. Looking into these issues also gives at hand that the need for procurement practicies is highly important – therefore a manual with procurement guidelines has been produced.The Joint Strategy describes the present situation and indentifies the obstacles why the Region is having difficulties climbing in the waste hierarchy. It gives suggestions for actions to be taken at various levels to improve the situation. The Strategy target decision-makers dealing with household waste management at national and EU-level. The target group for the Investment Concept is municipalities with the aim to strengthen their capacity fulfilling the EU-/national-legislation. RB21T has sett up a database with waste related information on experts, equipment, financing options as well as reference objects (that can be visited). The long awaited database (Envirobase) aims, for problem owners facing waste management investment, to simplify and narrow down the search for applied techniques and facilitating the decision on availabe waste management options for the municipality or region.Avoiding duplication of initiatives and progress is a cornerstone in the European integration process. Transfering RB21T to the Mediterraen (MEDA)-region is a fundamental part of RECO-values. The interest is vast, to learn on how RB21T has been developed and can be transferred to this part of Europe. Measures are taken to further elaborate the mutual learning process between the two Macro Regions (MEDA-BSR). These activities will in the future facilitate mainstreaming on how to approach sustainable waste management by using transnational co-operation as a basis.Being both a flagship and a lighthouse project increases the outreach of the project findings and their usage providing input to the long-term strategic work in BSR. The leadpartner IVL Swedish Environmental Reserach Institute concludes the extensive impact of transnational cooperation and truly values the extended network and accumulated knowledge collectively gained within the project.