As a result of the blockade of the border by Polish carriers in Ukraine, the cost of waste 5B paper has increased from 4300 hryvnias per ton to 9000 hryvnias.
Poland is the largest exporter of waste paper and supplies 20% of such waste for recycling (about 10,000 tons per month), according to Recopack, an association of producers of packaged goods operating on the principle of extended responsibility, on Facebook.
It is noted that Ukraine has the capacity to process 1,200,000 tons of paper waste per year. But the collection of such waste is much lower than the recycling capacity. Thus, in 2023, the country collected 500 thousand tons of paper waste.
Imports of waste paper are expected to reach 200 thousand tons in 2023.
The report emphasized that a significant amount of paper waste is generated in Ukraine every year. And this amount is more than 1,200,000 tons needed for the domestic processing industry.
"The reason why in Ukraine they cannot collect the required amount of waste for enterprises is the outdated waste management system, which is built exclusively on the principle of buying and selling," the message says.
Recopack emphasized that the only way to solve this problem is to launch the principle of extended producer responsibility for packaging. The RPR will launch a system of separate waste collection from the public and significantly increase the amount of waste collected.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that for the first half of 2023, Ukraine imported 85,000 tons of cardboard waste and paper worth $38 million.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in Poltava Oblast, 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.
