A roundtable discussion titled “Environmentally Friendly Technologies for Landfill and Waste Dump Reclamation” was held in Kyiv, organized by the All-Ukrainian Ecological League in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine. The event focused on challenges in the field of waste management. It was attended by representatives of government agencies, environmental organizations, scientists, and industry experts.
During the thematic panel, Oleksandr Ignatenko, a national waste management expert with the WM4U Programme, presented a report titled “Overcoming Challenges in the Field of Municipal Waste Management.” In it, he outlined the key changes needed to improve legislation in the sector.
In particular, the expert proposed extending the rules for composting bio-waste at the legislative level not only to private gardens and plots but also to mandate this requirement for composting green waste generated during the maintenance of public amenities in local communities. Special attention was given to the operation of landfills and the need to clarify requirements for obtaining permits for waste treatment regarding measures for their reclamation, monitoring, extraction, and disposal of biogas and landfill leachate.
During the presentation, the expert also discussed the amendments to the Methodology for Separate Collection of Household Waste prepared by the Programme, which were developed based on European best practices. Among these is the introduction of a system of symbols and signs for waste sorting.
The new system includes approximately 100 pictograms and is already in use in Northern European countries, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Lithuania. It allows waste containers to be labeled with clear stickers (previously, the use of colored containers to indicate different types of waste was mandatory), making the sorting system simpler for people and cheaper for communities.
The system will be presented by the Programme very soon.
The roundtable concluded with a discussion of modern approaches to landfill reclamation and a visit to Landfill No. 5 in Pidhirtsi, Kyiv Oblast.
The Swedish-Ukrainian WM4U Programme “Strengthening Municipal Waste Management in Ukraine” aims to support the development of modern, systemic, and environmentally responsible waste management solutions.