Oleh Bondarenko, chairman of the parliamentary committee on environmental policy and nature management, said that draft law No. 10066 "On Packaging and Packaging Waste" could be adopted at the 11th or early 12th session of the Verkhovna Rada, i.e. in 2024.
Currently, the document is being completely revised by a working group, he said during an offsite meeting of the environmental committee in Lviv on February 26, according to the Lviv City Council.
As you know, this and alternative draft laws No. 10061-1 and No. 10061-2 introduce extended producer responsibility and a system for collecting and recycling packaging waste. Since October 2023, they have been under consideration by the working group of the Environmental Committee.
Bondarenko explained that local governments, packaging manufacturers, and recyclers had submitted a number of amendments to the document.
" I think that in the near future we will submit a new version [of the bill] and move it forward. I really hope that we will adopt it either at this session [of the Verkhovna Rada] or at the beginning of the next one. We all need him very much, he said. – We understand how the system should work and what its components should be. We also see some resistance."
The 11th session of the Verkhovna Rada will last from February to August 2024.
It is noted that during the meeting they also discussed the construction of a waste processing complex, problematic issues regarding wastewater and handling of household waste in Lviv.
According to Orest Tymchyshyn, director of the housing and infrastructure department of the LMR, Lviv is currently implementing a reform in the field of household waste. In particular, an enterprise is being created in the city, which will be the sole administrator, namely, it will conclude agreements with all residents and settle with carriers.
"We need help with the adoption of the draft law "On packaging". This is important for us, because residents would no longer pay for this waste, but it would be returned to sellers or manufacturers," he said.
Tymchyshyn noted that new approved rules and regulations regarding the provision of waste management services are also needed. After all, the existing ones have already lost their validity and do not take into account the practice of separate collection.
"We need such legislative assistance at the Committee level, we also have developed proposals," he added.
The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovy, said that the reclamation of the Hrybovytsky landfill is at the final stage. In addition, the construction of the waste processing complex is being completed in the city.
The deputy mayor of Lviv for urban planning, Lyubomir Zubach, spoke about another acute problem of the community, namely the pollution of reservoirs by sewage.
"We are currently dealing with water bodies that are within the community and small rivers. Here the situation is very complicated and it is connected, among other things, with the imperfection of the current legislation. Many settlements physically discharge sewage into rivers and lakes. This process is absolutely uncontrollable," he said.
Zubach emphasized that certain changes to the legislation have been worked out in the LMR, which will help to regulate such pollution, in particular, changes to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses
Previously, EcoPolitic prepared for its readers an overview of three key environmental draft laws that should be adopted in 2024 in Ukraine.
