The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strelets, said that all landfills should be closed, rehabilitated and forgotten as a nightmare.
On the territory of Ukraine, there are 207 places where modern waste management facilities can be launched, including waste processing and waste incineration plants, as well as facilities with other technologies, Strilets said in an interview with Ukrinform.
The article emphasized that most Ukrainian landfills are overcrowded and do not meet European standards, so they should be closed.
"All landfills must be closed, rehabilitated and forgotten about as a terrible dream. The question is how many years it will take for Ukraine to realize all this," Strilets said.
He explained that appropriate infrastructure is necessary for this. Thus, in August 2022, the Ministry of Environment created a map of Ukraine on which 207 locations are located. These are investment cases, thanks to which any investor can come and build a suitable enterprise there.
"We have organized cooperation between the ministry and the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, the cities of Boryspil, Fastiv, Brovary on the creation of a joint venture with appropriate funding from international financial institutions," the minister said.
He explained that nine such facilities should be created in the Kyiv region. All garbage will be transported there, about 40% will be processed into secondary raw materials or environmentally safe fuel. They can also be equipped with special equipment for biomethane production.
It is noted that the Law "On Waste Management" will enter into force in the summer of 2023. It will launch waste management reform and allow the state to take control of the industry. In order for the law to work, it is necessary to prepare and adopt dozens more normative and legal acts, in particular, sectoral draft laws, orders and resolutions.
Strelets emphasized that one year is too little to develop all the regulations regarding this law. Currently, a large team of specialists is working on the development of by-laws so that they will be adopted before the law enters into force. He emphasized that he keeps these issues under personal control.
The minister added that the mining industry produces the largest amount of waste in Ukraine. In mining areas, waste covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and creates a very big problem.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in Ukraine, as part of the implementation of the waste management reform, they are working on the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR), that is, the obligations of companies to recycle the packaging waste of their goods. For this purpose, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources is developing sectoral legislation for 4 main blocks.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, on July 7, 2022, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, signed the long-awaited Law "On Waste Management". On June 20, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the document in the second reading and in general.
