From 2 to 4 September, a series of working meetings took place between Ukrainian clusters of the WM4U Programme (Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Lozova, Kremenchuk) and their Swedish partners. The central focus was on agreeing a work plan for the preparation of baseline reports, which are set to become the starting point for building a modern waste management system in the communities.

What the baseline reports include

At present, international and local experts of the Programme are finalising the processing of collected data through questionnaires and drafting the first versions of the baseline reports. These reports will contain information on:

  • the current state of waste management systems in the hromadas of each cluster;
  • the institutional structure and available financing;
  • existing approaches to the collection, transportation, recovery and disposal of municipal waste.

Afterwards, the documents will be reviewed by Swedish partners, who will provide recommendations for improving approaches and developing infrastructure. Based on several rounds of discussions and consultations, a consolidated final report with practical proposals for Ukrainian communities will be prepared.

Oleksandr Ihnatenko, National Waste Management Expert of the WM4U Programme, emphasised:

“During the working meetings, we paid particular attention to the topic of intermunicipal cooperation between communities in the area of waste management. This is a critically important direction, since it is often financially and organisationally difficult for communities to implement large-scale projects on their own. Joining efforts makes it possible to create joint utilities for waste collection and transportation, as well as to build essential infrastructure – from transfer and sorting stations to processing facilities and modern regional landfills. Such cooperation is exactly what can ensure sustainable development of the sector at the local level.”

Expected proposals

Among the key directions expected to be included in the recommendations are:

  • creating an effective system of separate waste collection;
  • improving logistics for transporting waste to treatment facilities;
  • launching biowaste composting;
  • extracting and neutralising biogas at existing landfills;
  • constructing new recovery and disposal facilities;
  • expanding intermunicipal cooperation for the implementation of infrastructure projects.

The baseline reports will form the foundation for developing local waste management plans, preparing investment plans and feasibility studies, which are essential for attracting further financing for projects in this field.