In July, Lviv hosted the ‘Zero Waste Cities’ Forum, which brought together representatives of territorial communities, public authorities, international organisations and experts to discuss modern approaches to the development of waste management systems in Ukraine.
During the forum, Oleksandr Ignatenko, the WM4U Programme’s national waste management expert, presented a new labelling system for the separate collection of household waste, which this year officially became part of Ukraine’s Methodology for the Separate Collection of Household Waste.
During the presentation, participants learnt how the system works, why it is already in use in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania and, from now on, Ukraine, as well as the practical benefits it offers to communities.
Oleksandr Ignatenko spoke about the practical application of the system, which comprises approximately 100 symbols for different types of household waste. The use of these symbols will help communities avoid the additional cost of purchasing containers in different colours.
The introduction of a labelling system is another step towards harmonising Ukraine’s household waste management with European approaches. It makes the rules clearer for people and simplifies the implementation of separate collection for local authorities.
WM4U has already made the full set of symbols available free of charge to all territorial communities in Ukraine. They can be downloaded from the Programme’s website, printed out and used to label bins for the separate collection of household waste.