Yamal to launch pilot project on waste management in hard-to-reach areas

The Ministry of Environment will examine the responsibility of enterprises to dispose of rubbish generated in campsites; this would have a major impact on reducing emissions and provide a basis for concrete climate action.

Photo by: CasarsaGuru / iStock

A pilot project for waste management in hard-to-reach areas will be launched in Yamal. This was stated in the minutes of a meeting with the first deputy prime minister of Russia, Victoria Abramchenko, TASS reported with reference to the press service of the deputy prime minister.

“Together with the highest executive authority of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District to work out the issue of implementation in the region of a pilot project for solid municipal waste management in hard-to-reach areas. Report the results to the Government of the Russian Federation. The deadline is September 15, 2022,” the agency quotes the text of the instruction to the Russian environmental operator (REO).

At the same time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has been instructed to look into the issue of making the companies where these camps are established responsible for waste management. Regional authorities of the Urals District will take part in consideration of the problem. The results will be available by 3 October.

It is worth pointing out that the reform of waste management started in Russia three years ago. It is intended to solve the problem with illegal dumps, to significantly decrease the amount of waste going to landfills and, on the whole, to make waste management in Russia more efficient.

According to the National Ecology Project, 220 modern waste treatment, disposal and recycling complexes are to be built by 2024. By this date, it is planned to achieve 100% sorting of household waste, and no more than 50% of waste should be sent to landfill.

By 2030, 868 waste management facilities are planned to be built and rehabilitated. According to the latest estimation at the beginning of May 2022, 48.1% of waste in Russia is sorted and 11.4% is disposed of.

It should be noted that authorities of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region (YNAO) eliminated 32 illegal dumpsites in the region in 2022, declared the year of ecology, and one more is in the process of elimination. This was reported by the press service of the regional government.

Of this number, 17 littered areas were outside populated areas, in forested areas. The total volume of waste collected on them amounted to almost 14 thousand cubic metres, and the area freed from them was 27 hectares.

In the Purovsky area of the district, 14 photo traps will be set up in the autumn of 2022 to combat the polluters. They will cover 80% of the potential locations for illegal dumping. The cameras will appear in industrial zones, garage cooperatives and forest areas.

Cover photo: Olezzo / iStock