In Ukraine, over 600,000 tons of debris from destruction have already accumulated, necessitating plans for their efficient utilization. This was emphasized by the First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, during an on-site meeting of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management of the Verkhovna Rada in the Kharkiv region.
"To address the issue of debris, on September 27, 2022, the Government approved a procedure for their disposal. The document was developed by the Ministry of Environment jointly with the Ministry of Regional Development. Currently, the Ministry is in constant communication with international partners regarding assistance to Ukraine - for the purchase of mobile crushers for construction waste, equipment for their dismantling and sorting, equipment for waste processing for reuse in construction, etc.," noted Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi.
He mentioned that one example of such cooperation is agreements with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which will assist Ukraine in waste recycling projects. Partnership agreements were reached during a meeting between the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Ruslan Strilets, and the Vice-President of the JICA Central Office, Naoki Ando. The Ministry of Environment and the JICA Office in Ukraine will be able to swiftly advance joint projects, as demanded by wartime, and will involve the Kharkiv region in this collaborative effort. As of the beginning of March, approximately 50,000 tons of debris from destruction had already been recorded in the region, with daily shelling only increasing these volumes.
Resolving pre-war issues of solid household waste management in the region, which continue to accumulate, is also important. The ongoing reform today provides all the necessary opportunities for this.
As the Director of the Department of Digital Transformation, Electronic Public Services, and Waste Management at the Ministry of Environment, Yevheniia Popovych, explained, within the framework of the reform, issues related to the placement of 8 new plants in the region are being considered. Two of them, the main ones, are planned to carry out the entire range of work with waste: from sorting to processing and the production of RDF fuel, "energy recovery" of waste with the production of electricity and heat. In general, the new facilities will ensure 100% processing of household waste generated in the region.
"At the legislative level, we already have all the conditions for this. And we are grateful to the members of parliament for adopting the important foundation for this - the framework Euro-integration Law 'On Waste Management.' Investors have always openly stated that they need clear transparent rules of operation and guarantees for the protection of their investments. And the Law provides these conditions for them. In addition, international partners today emphasize that they are ready to help us now in transitioning from ruins to green transformation. At the highest political level, on all forums, international platforms, green recovery is seen as Ukraine's main investment case," noted Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi.
To continue the dialogue initiated several weeks ago in Tokyo, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strilets, held a meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Hideki Matsunaga. In February, a Memorandum of Cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was signed on the sidelines of the conference on economic development and reconstruction between Ukraine and JICA. Currently, they discussed a step-by-step Action Plan for its practical implementation. During the meeting, they also touched upon the topic of waste management and Japan's assistance in solving our country's problems with debris from destruction.
