Zlatopil Territorial Community in Kharkiv Oblast has received a garbage truck from Sweden to support the development of its municipal waste management system and improve waste collection services.
The donated vehicle, a Scania garbage truck manufactured in 2016, was previously operated by a Swedish municipality and has been transferred to Ukraine through the WM4U programme. Before the donation, the vehicle underwent maintenance to ensure its continued usability and operational reliability.
The donation is part of WM4U’s efforts to strengthen the technical capacity of Ukrainian municipalities by providing equipment for waste collection and transportation. Communities selected to receive donated equipment undergo a comprehensive assessment that considers local needs, service coverage, operational capacity, and the potential impact on waste management services.
Zlatopil Territorial Community was selected as the recipient based on several factors, including its demonstrated need for additional waste collection equipment and its ability to effectively operate and maintain the vehicle.
The community comprises nine settlements with a population of approximately 35,800 residents. While waste collection services are available in the administrative center, ensuring regular collection in outlying settlements remains a challenge. The additional garbage truck is expected to improve collection frequency, particularly in remote areas of the community, and support the expansion of separate waste collection initiatives already underway.
The donation will also help reduce reliance on older equipment, increasing the reliability and efficiency of municipal waste collection services.
“When deciding about vehicle donations, we look at factors such as geography and population, the extent to which a truck can improve service coverage and accessibility, the community’s capacity to operate and maintain the vehicle, and the availability of compatible equipment. Based on this assessment, we identified Zlatopil as one of the communities with the greatest need within the Lozova cluster. We believe that the municipal company Zhylservis will make excellent use of this Scania P250 from Hässleholm. To further enhance its impact, we have also decided to allocate a donation of 250 waste bins from the City of Karlstad to accompany the truck,” says Klas Svensson, International Donations Coordinator at WM4U.
The Zlatopil community is engaged in long-term planning efforts aimed at aligning local waste management practices with European Union standards. Intermunicipal cooperation is an important component of this process, and the new equipment is expected to strengthen opportunities for collaboration with neighboring communities.
The community also operates a centralized landfill that serves not only Zlatopil but surrounding municipalities, making reliable waste collection and transportation infrastructure particularly important for the wider area.
“The Zlatopil community has been working systematically for many years to modernise its waste management sector — from sorting and upgrading waste collection points to digital monitoring of municipal equipment and landfill operations. Therefore, the support from our Swedish partners is not only a source of assistance for us, but also confirmation that we are on the right track. The donated refuse lorry and bins will help us improve the quality of our services and bring the community closer to European standards,” said Mykola Baksheev, Mayor of Zlatopil.
The garbage truck will support the community’s efforts to increase the collection of recyclable materials and advance the implementation of modern waste management practices.
The Donations’ component of the WM4U programme aims to strengthen the technical capacity of local communities in the sphere of household waste collection and transport by providing containers, vehicles and other equipment. Under this component, Swedish municipalities transfer existing equipment to Ukrainian communities, whilst the WM4U programme provides organisational support and arranges delivery to pilot clusters in the Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava and Kharkiv regions.