Waste management plants to be built in the Far East and the Arctic

This will create a sustainable waste management system in remote regions and reduce the negative impact on the climate.

Photo by: Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS

New waste sorting, composting and reloading stations will be built in Arkhangelsk Region, Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Chukotka. The facilities will be built under concession, said the press service of the Russian Ecological Operator (REO).

According to the organization, a waste processing plant with a capacity of 275 thousand tons will be built in Arkhangelsk, and 2.9 billion rubles will be invested in the project. The contract is expected to be signed in November 2022.

Yakutia has already signed an agreement for setting up a reloading station and a sorting facility with the capacity of 120 thousand tons of waste annually. The facilities will cost 2 billion rubles.

Large-scale work is planned in the Krasnoyarsk region, where five concessions are being prepared, including a sorting facility in Norilsk for 1.6 billion roubles and a recycling and treatment facility in the Left Bank zone for 1.25 billion roubles.

In addition, REO and the Chukotka government signed a cooperation agreement at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok to establish enterprises for solid municipal waste management.

The agreement provides for the construction of waste treatment facilities and the organisation of a sustainable system that will ensure 100% sorting of solid municipal waste and reduce the volume of waste going to landfill in the Chukotka Autonomous District.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Russian environmental operator will help finance the project, including from the proceeds of its bonds.

“The new facilities will allow the subject of Russia not only to achieve the indicators of the federal project, but also to create a sustainable system of waste management in the region,” the press service quotes Denis Butsaev, head of REO, as saying.

It should be noted that the reform of the waste management industry started in Russia in early 2019. It is designed to make waste management more conscious, eradicate illegal landfills and significantly reduce the amount of waste that is taken to landfills. Experts note the overriding importance of sound waste management for climate policy: landfill gas emissions make a significant contribution to global warming.

By 2024, the national project “Ecology” provides for the construction of 220 modern complexes for waste treatment, recycling and storage. And by 2030, 868 waste management facilities are to be built or reconstructed in the country.

It is planned to sort 100% of all rubbish generated in Russia and send not more than a half of it for burial. Today in Russia just over 48% of waste is sorted and only 11.4% is sent for utilization (recycling or use of any form).

Cover photo: miodrag ignjatovic / iStock