According to the "UkrPapir" association, in the first half of 2023, Ukraine imported 85,000 tons of cardboard and paper waste worth $38 million.
This amount made up 32.1% of the total volume of materials for recycling, and the other two-thirds was provided by own procurement, the association of manufacturers of packaged goods operating under the principle of extended responsibility Recopack reports on Facebook.
The message emphasized that this money had to be withdrawn from domestic circulation.
The association noted that the solution to this problem is only possible thanks to the introduction of "Extended producer responsibility". This norm is part of the draft law "On packaging and packaging waste", which should improve the collection of packaging waste, in particular cardboard and paper waste.
Recopack stated that in order to implement this principle as quickly as possible, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources should remove the barriers in the draft law.
"Competition is the only way to promote reforms in the best and fastest way," the message emphasized.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in Poltava regiob, in the city of Pyryatyn, the first 30 tons of cardboard packaging waste collected by enterprises and residents of four communities in two months were sent for processing.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, Ukrainian recycling enterprises are forced to buy 200 tons of waste every year, because they lack local raw materials.
