Environmental protection ministry expects to spend EUR 4B on waste treatment projects

The Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ministry has selected more than 200 promising waste treatment projects across Ukraine. The estimated cost of such projects is about EUR 4 billion.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets in a commentary to Ukrinform.

“We have analyzed the problems of each region, studied the rate of waste generation and composition, as well as the experience of European countries. As a result, we developed a plan for the placement of new waste treatment plants across Ukraine,” Strilets told.

In his words, the plan provides for several priority projects in the following regions.

In the Kyiv region, two new waste treatment plants are expected to be built, covering with their services at least 1.5 million residents. Together, they will handle 470,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

The project provides for deep sorting with the selection of resource-valuable materials, such as scrap metal, glass and plastic, and organic waste processing with subsequent biomethane production, etc. According to the minister, investors have already been found for that project.

In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, similar plants will be built in accordance with the European best practices.

“The region’s waste treatment cluster will consist of five plants. They will process more than 450,000 tonnes per annum. Hence, at least 1.4 million residents will receive their services,” Strilets explained, adding that corresponding talks with investors had already started.

In the Poltava region, four plants are expected to be built, namely in Lubny, Kremenchuk, Poltava and Kobeliaky. Annually, about 280,000 tonnes of solid domestic waste is generated in the region. Strilets mentioned that talks with the investor regarding the above projects had already started.

In the Odesa region, a similar project will be launched. Seven plants will be created to resolve waste treatment issues for at least 2.3 million residents. Annually, the region has about 1.5 million tonnes of waste buried.

Such regions as Zakarpattia, Sumy and Kharkiv will be next in line.

Strilets expressed confidence that, upon the completion of two to three pilot projects on the construction of waste treatment infrastructure, there will be no need to look for investors, as they will start showing interest on their own.

“At the legislative level, we already have all the conditions for this, and practically we are creating them together with responsible communities and European experts,” Strilets added.

A reminder that more than 10 million tonnes of waste is generated in Ukraine annually, and just a small portion of such waste undergoes sorting and recycling. According to the strategic objectives of the Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ministry, the new waste treatment plants are expected to appear in Ukraine before 2034.