Odpadové hospodářství na Ukrajině (Solid waste management in Ukraine)

General overview of Ukrainian solid domestic waste management industry: read the full report

For Ukraine, as well as for many other countries, the issue of solid waste treatment is very urgent, considering that accumulated solid waste is the main cause of soil and groundwater pollution. According to the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction (hereinafter - "MRDC") in Ukraine in 2011 about 12 m tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were produced, and the annual amount is growing by an average of 3-5% per year. Also, according to MRDC, waste accumulated by this point of time contains about 2.5 m tons of paper, 400 thsd tons of steel, 25 thsd tons of ferrous metals, and 400 thsd t of plastic. In 2011, the UNDP estimated the value of raw material potential in case of introduction of separate waste collection and waste recycling would amount to c. UAH 1.3 bn (about EUR 120 m).

Today, the most challenging, yet the most promising areas for development and investment within the industry are:

• Establishment of accounting and control systems of MSW disposal;
• Improvement of management of MSW disposal system and MSW utilization;
• Implementation of educational projects and other measures for shaping public culture of separate waste collection;
• Introduction of separate solid waste collection;
• Construction of modern plants for processing MSW;
• Construction or modernization of plants for processing secondary raw materials and/or usage of secondary fuel (RDF);
• Construction of new landfills;
• Extension of existing landfills and reclamation of closed landfills.

Ukrainian government recognizes importance and urgency of the problem of solid waste treatment in Ukraine and is currently implementing a number of initiatives at the national level:

• National project "Clean City" (under the patronage of the President of Ukraine) - construction of waste processing plants in 10 regions of Ukraine on terms of public-private partnership;
• Implementation of a number of legislative initiatives in order to reform and harmonize domestic standards with the relevant EU directives.

Legislative initiatives Planned are the following:

• Expansion of local communities´ rights regarding the ownership of waste, allowing for better monitoring of the performance of waste collection services;
• Obliging citizens to hold separate collection of waste and obliging legal entities providers of waste collection services - to ensure separate collection;
• Starting from January 1, 2013 - obliging all citizens to sign agreements with the companies for collection of domestic waste;
• Starting from January 1, 2016 - prohibition of unprocessed waste disposal;
• Implementation of "green tariff" for electricity produced from waste;
• Amending the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, by establishing penalties for violations of waste management laws, such as lack of an agreement with collection companies on disposal of unprocessed waste.

Despite certain difficulties associated with working in the industry, private companies are demonstrating great interest in it. Even though most of the companies either provide services of collection and transportation of waste or are involved in waste sorting with low-tech equipment, there is already an undertaking of large-scale projects in Donetsk, where the construction of a waste incineration plant with capacity of 470 thsd tons of solid waste per year, and production of 242,876 MW hours/year of electricity and 527,992 MW hours/year of thermal energy is planned by attracting foreign investments.

Reforms and developments in the field of MSW treatment in Ukraine are also promoted by such international organizations as SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and DESPRO (Swiss-Ukrainian project "Support of Decentralization in Ukraine"), which implement educational projects in Ukraine and provide consulting support to public and private participants on the issue of MSW treatment.

MSW processing in Ukraine does not yet involve application of high technologies, so acceptance of European practices, effective implementation of reforms and completion of existing projects, can boost rapid growth in the industry. In majority of European countries less than 40% of MSW is landfilled; for comparison, in Ukraine in terms of all existing plants as well as those currently in construction, incl. the "Clean City" project, there will still be a need for landfilling at least 75% of the total MSW amount.

Source and see more at: http://investukraine.com/sectors/solid-domestic-waste-management#sthash.no8ic48b.dpuf