Since January 1, Ukrainians are obliged to sort garbage. But while the law does not work, and all waste is in one garbage truck on the way to the landfill

Each Ukrainian annually generates about 330 kg of garbage. In a year, 11 million tons of domestic waste are transported to polygons and informal garbage dumps. The total area of ​​landfills is almost 5% of the country’s territory, which is comparable to the size of the Chernivtsi region. At the same time in Ukraine there is only one incineration plant – the Kiev “Energia”. Its capacity is not enough even for servicing the capital. For a year, 260-280 thousand tons are burned here, while in Kiev it is collected 1.2 million tons of household waste. As a result, 95% of domestic garbage throughout the country is exported outside the settlements and stored for decades.

Warming up the garbage

An attempt to sort garbage in Ukraine was undertaken more than once. For example, in Kiev mobile collection points for recycling are used, where everyone can give sorted wastes. But there are quite a few examples where the initiatives of citizens to establish in their yards containers for separate collection of garbage only made this territory attractive to homeless people. The so much easier it was to collect cardboard and glass.

Now the law on sorting forbids the removal of waste to landfills. They need to be recycled, utilized, and throw only what does not flow, does not stink and does not emit methane. When asked how the law will be implemented, Svetlana Kolomiets, adviser to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, answers: “No way.” In this part of the law, it simply can not work, since there are no processing capacities for organic materials in the country.

But there are chances that soon they will appear, and in Ukraine the system for handling household waste will work. The government began with the adoption of the National Waste Management Strategy. The document reinforces the country’s intentions to increase the volume of waste processing, create safe landfills for the storage of domestic waste, and track whether the garbage is not stored somewhere illegally. If the strategy is implemented, by 2030 in Ukraine there will be about 800 processing enterprises, and in 5 thousand settlements will build 250 centers for collecting household waste.

The work plan is as follows: the government will create a National Waste Management Plan and will give local governments the responsibility to decide what to do with garbage in the region. To do this, regional waste management plans should be established locally. Theoretically, regional administrations will break the region into clusters, create routes for the removal of waste and options for recycling household garbage.

On average, a ton of garbage a European pays 40-50 euros. For comparison: the Ukrainian spends about 30 UAH per year for burial of garbage

“The optimal coverage of the cluster is 400 thousand people, the minimum line is 150 thousand. The waste collection and transportation system in this case ends with one cluster regional training ground and one processing enterprise,” explains Vyacheslav Sorokovsky, an expert on the decentralization of the DESPRO project.

When dividing into clusters, many factors will need to be taken into account. “The difference in the composition of waste can be significant, and it will affect what to do with them,” says Svetlana Kolomiets. For example, in rural areas, most of the organic waste is used in households, and the lion’s share of garbage is packaging, packaging and other inorganic components. “Based on how much waste is generated, what waste it is, how much capacity there is in the region for processing, and a plan will be developed,” she sums up.

Build a factory

While the regional plans are in major cities – Kiev, Lviv, Dnipro and Vinnitsa. “There is no problem with the removal of domestic garbage in the capital, we need to solve the problem of its utilization,” says Pyotr Panteleyev, deputy chairman of the Kyiv city state administration. “To do this, it is necessary to improve the legislation and build the processing capacities.” They decided to follow the principle of mechanical and biological waste processing. It’s greener and cheaper than burning. ”

Such a method includes sorting, selection of resource-related materials, construction of biogas collection plants, as well as the use of high-calorific waste for the production of thermal and electric energy.

A representative of the city administration says that the project will cost the city about 100-150 million euros. The exact figure will become known after the tender and selection of the processor company. Get funding from the city budget in full, impossible, so Kiev is thinking about attracting an investor.

In the issue of creating processing facilities, the capital is ahead of Lviv. Svetlana Kolomiets says that soon they will start building a plant for mechanical and biological treatment. It will cost the city 30-35 million euros and is partly financed by the EBRD grant. In particular, 10 million euros are earmarked for recultivation of the Gribovytsky landfill, another 20 million euros – a loan with a minimum interest for the construction of a garbage processing plant.

In the framework of public-private partnership, the processing plant is also planned to be built in the Dnieper. Its cost is about $ 60 million, the payback period of the project is 10 years. The city administration is looking for an investor. The investor implements the project for his own money, and the Dnipro guarantees that, if the management changes, investors will not be asked to leave the project, “says Vladimir Panchenko, head of the Dnipro Development Agency.

“Today, the penalty for illegal discharge of garbage is 1700 UAH Catch infringers infrequently We initiate a bill to increase the fine to 34 thousand UAH”

Pyotr Panteleev, Deputy Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration

Scale is smaller

Ivan Fursenko, First Deputy Head of the Executive Directorate of the All-Ukrainian Association of Village Councils, notes that investors will go to cities with a population of 200 thousand people. For small territorial communities, one should think about inter-municipal cooperation. “In Latvia, it was successful.” About half of the region, if transferred to our territories, unites local authorities at the base level, they create one plant there, which has 25-30 co-owners – local self-government bodies, “Fursenko cites. In the Baltic countries, investors have already learned how to find investors for the construction of plants. Ukraine has the same plans, but it takes time.

There is also the experience of Poland, which only learns to work with the recycling of garbage in the European manner. Pay for its export and processing of local residents, the amount depends on whether the person sorts garbage or not. Moreover, the state subsidizes the processing of certain types of garbage: electrical appliances, batteries, lamps. In parallel, it seeks investors, often on the terms of public-private partnership. At the same time, dumps continue to operate in the country, and the number of processing and burning plants is less than in France (126 garbage incineration plants) or in Germany (121 plants).

Money on the garbage

Regardless of whether the state supports the recycling of garbage financially or not, people will still have to pay for it. The question is – how much. “The fact that garbage – raw materials that can be completely processed and get a good profit – is the main myth.” This works completely differently, “emphasizes Andrei Grushinsky, the head of the board of PJSC” Kyivspetstrans “. It is this company that manages polygon # 5, where household waste is taken from Kiev.

The investor will come only to what can make a profit – the income from processing and incineration of garbage will not bring finance, which will override the costs. Accordingly, partially for recycling will have to pay people. Also, the cost of constructing environmentally friendly landfills will fall on the consumer. Everything, as in Europe. On average, a ton of garbage a European pays 40-50 euros. For comparison: the Ukrainian gives about 30 grn a year for burial of garbage. However, the residents of the capital will soon expect an increase in tariffs for the export of domestic waste, since they have not been revised since 2010. In a year the people of Kiev will need to spread about 100 UAH. But again, in this price processing is not laid.

In the Dnieper, the cost of recycling garbage for residents decided to minimize, abandoning the costly technology of incineration of garbage. “Burning technologies are expensive: a ton of garbage is about 1 thousand euros,” says Vladimir Panchenko. Instead, they decided to sort out the garbage: to remove resource-rich plastic, metal, glass, to process the organic matter into biogas with its subsequent combustion. However, from the increase in the existing tariff for the disposal of garbage to the inhabitants of the Dnieper can not escape. From 2018, it will increase from UAH 13 to UAH 21 per 1 cu. The tariff for export and utilization for residents of multi-storey houses will be 11.79 UAH / person. per month (whereas there was 9.36 UAH). As for the prices for transportation of garbage, today 1 cu. m of garbage send to the landfill is 35 UAH, and carriers insist on increasing the tariff to 88 UAH. If this happens, residents of high-rise buildings of the Dnieper will have to pay 23 UAH / person. per month.

Econologist

There are several options to pay for processing. For example, to allocate money from the budget, to create a state enterprise that will organize the processing process. But this is a direct path to corruption. With a very high likelihood of money, “cut”. Therefore, it is possible to introduce an environmental tax for manufacturers and importers of packaging and packaging. “With the help of such a tax, everyone will pay for processing depending on how much they consume the packaged products,” says Andrey Grushinsky, head of the board of PrJSC Kyivspetstrans.

Legislators offer two options for resolving the issue with an environmental tax. If the processor, for example, the plant “Obolon” in Kiev, independently organizes the sorting and processing of its packaging, then it is released from the tax. If not, you have to pay. The funds will be accumulated in the special fund, and then distributed to the regions. Pass through the parliament such legislation will not be easy. “The lobby of the packers is very strong,” MP Ivan Krulko comments on the situation, “They are ready to connect resources so that no law on the eco-tax is adopted.” It is more beneficial to block the initiative in parliament than to honestly pay the tax. ”

With old garbage, too, you need to decide something. Krulko says that there are about 33 thousand illegal dumps in Ukraine. For example, it is now unknown where 40% of household waste in Kiev go. Fighting against spontaneous dumps should eco-inspection in conjunction with the National Police and local government.

“The police, as a rule, are not up to the challenges to spontaneous landfills, and in the regions the police have not been reorganized yet.” The fines can be written off from the public ecologist, but there is no mechanism for collecting this fine, “says Ivan Fursenko, the first deputy head of the executive board of the All-Ukrainian Association of Rural councils.

Change the situation, according to the deputy chairman of the KCSA Petr Panteleyev, can only increase fines. “Today, the fine for illegal waste disposal is 1700 UAH, they catch infringers infrequently.We initiate a bill to increase the fine to 34 thousand UAH,” he said.

There are about 6,000 official garbage dumps in the country. Most of them need urgent recultivation. According to Pyotr Panteleev, only one hundred million hryvnia will be spent to recultivate landfill No. 5 near Kiev. A more accurate figure will be called after the development of the project, the cost of which is 2.6 million UAH. Finish it plan in 7-8 years, a few more years will be needed for the reclamation of the landfill itself. Where will be removed garbage from Kiev in this period, is unclear.

Lviv Worms

In May 2016 Lviv from the tourist capital of the country turned into the main garbage problem of Ukraine. The fire at the Gribovitsky training ground not only took the lives of three rescuers, but also badly damaged the reputation of the mayor of the city Andrei Sadovoy. These events also actualized the problem of personal responsibility of citizens. In the course went everything – from reducing the use of disposable dishes to composting with the help of worms.

“I am an environmentalist myself, working in the World Wildlife Fund and calmly treating different kinds of wildlife,” says Irina Mironova, whose focus is compost worms. The decision to start living creatures, eagerly eating organic waste, took after the problems in Lviv with the removal of garbage. “It does not stink and does not creep,” the ecologist says with a smile about his worm farm. According to her, this way of composting is widespread in agriculture around the world. For example, in New York, for participation in organic composting programs, there is a financial reward from municipalities.

In parallel, activists and ecologists of Lviv began to cooperate more actively with representatives of small business. “For restaurants, the tariff for the export of waste is set by the number of seats, mobile coffee shops do not usually have such places, but one coffee shop can sell up to 600 cups a day.” These cups get into the trash can just 15 minutes from this coffee house, – says Irina Mironova. Such entrepreneurs were offered to support the initiative to reduce the number of disposable cups, giving a discount on a drink for those who come with their containers. Today, the initiative is supported by 16 mini-cafes of the city, and in some of them every 7th portion of coffee is poured into the container of the visitor. Many restaurants in the cultural capital of Ukraine now and straws in cocktails are given only at the request of visitors. And they are rarely asked for.

Also in Lviv, quests from the series are regularly held, as in a month to reduce the amount of garbage to a minimum. Even children are taught the culture of proper dealing with garbage – the Lviv Puppet Theater gives ideas about the careful attitude to things, the importance of sorting and processing waste.

In a word, if you want to establish a waste management system in Ukraine, you can. The same Poland coped in just three years. True, the western neighbor had a significant advantage – financial support from the EU. Ukrainians, on the other hand, have a more responsible attitude to their own garbage and wait until plans for the construction of processing plants become a reality.