The crisis of hazardous waste management is gaining momentum in Ukraine, as only 3 companies in the whole of Ukraine can carry out such activities due to the failure of the Ministry of Environment to issue licenses, according to PAEW President Lyudmyla Tsyhanok.
As it is known, on January 9, 2024, the previous licenses for hazardous waste management activities "lost" their validity.
"There are only 9 (!) companies in Ukraine with licenses for hazardous waste management, 6 of which are narrowly focused or issued for the companies' own needs (out of 216 at the beginning of the year). That is, does the Ministry of Environment and Minister Ruslan Strilets believe that in the conditions of war, at the end of March 2024, 3 enterprises can cope with the volume of hazardous waste generated?" the expert noted.
According to her, the waste management reform should provide for the emergence of high-quality processing enterprises, at least one in each region. However, she emphasizes that the revocation of all previous licenses did not solve the problem, but only exacerbated it.
"Those few processing enterprises that monopolized the market by supplying short-sighted officials, and started their activities with new licenses, significantly increased the prices for the provision of their services (doubled, sometimes tripled), in connection with which, for example, panic began in medical institutions , as they are budgetary institutions and are unable to pay such funds for waste removal services and for logistics costs, including," Tsyhanok warned.
It is noted that in order to obtain a license for hazardous waste management, companies must check the compliance of their material and technical base with the established requirements.
The PAEW President emphasizes that as of today, inspections are carried out by authorized persons of the Ministry of Ecology in violation of the procedure, which artificially creates conditions for blocking the work of business entities in the field of hazardous waste management. The authorized persons demand documents that are not related to the subject of the inspection and are not specified in the inspection procedure.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that due to the Cabinet of Ministers' non-compliance with the requirements of Law No. 2320-IX "On Waste Management", there is not a single licensed hazardous waste disposal company in Ukraine, and businesses cannot dispose of this type of waste legally.
Earlier, EcoPolitic spoke to Lyudmyla Tsyhanok, President of the Association of Environmental Professionals (PAEW) and CEO of the Office of Sustainable Solutions, about the causes and consequences of the hazardous waste market collapse.
