The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine proposes to expand the range of companies that can obtain a permit for waste treatment under a simplified procedure.
The Ministry has published a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on its official website. It is titled “On Amendments to the Procedure for Implementing a Pilot Project on a Simplified Procedure for Obtaining a Waste Treatment Permit”.
What will change
The Ministry of Ecology proposes to allow enterprises that have positive conclusions of the state environmental expertise on the collection, treatment, storage, burial, neutralization and disposal of all types of industrial and household waste to join the pilot project on a simplified procedure for obtaining a permit for waste treatment operations. Businesses will be able to obtain permits in accordance with Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1328 “On Approval of the Procedure for Issuing, Refusing to Issue, and Revoking Permits for Waste Treatment Operations.”
Why was it necessary to develop this document?
The Ministry of Ecology named the following reasons for the need for such a draft resolution:
- As of today, only 39 business entities have received licenses to conduct hazardous waste management activities. Only 19 of these companies are authorized to carry out waste treatment operations.
- These capacities are insufficient to ensure waste treatment by volume and type. Officials stated that in such a situation, it is impossible to effectively manage hazardous waste, which is generated in large quantities during shelling and hostilities.
- Keeping waste at collection facilities, including prior to treatment, for more than 1 year from the date of its generation carries risks and additional financial burdens for waste generators, namely, the need to pay environmental tax, administrative liability, and the forced use of additional industrial space.
- Since waste management cannot be carried out in the territories where military operations are taking place and in the areas directly adjacent to the combat areas, there is a need for its transportation. This need entails the following risks:
- increased transportation costs;
- the risk of getting under fire from vehicles transporting waste;
- insufficient number of personnel to carry out these operations (waste collection, transportation).
As a reminder, this is not the first initiative to expand the range of companies that can obtain a permit for waste treatment under the simplified procedure. At the end of January, the Ministry of Ecology prepared a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which proposed to issue permits under a simplified procedure to business entities that carry out waste operations under codes R1-R13 and D1-D15 if they have a positive conclusion of the state environmental assessment for waste management or a positive conclusion on environmental impact assessment.
Three months later, the government accepted the ministry's proposal.
The Resolution “On the Implementation of a Pilot Project on a Simplified Procedure for Obtaining a Permit for Waste Treatment Operations,” which is now being amended periodically, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers at the end of August 2024.
