Article by Deputy Director of the Federal State Establishment Scientific Research Center for the Problems of Resource and Waste Management, member-correspondent of the Russian Academy of Medical and Technical Sciences Mr. Ruben Mkhitarov

Russia’s vast territories and its seemingly inexhaustible natural resources have produced significant environmental problems for the country. In a less-than-wise regime of environmental protection and resources conservation, large open spaces and easily accessible raw materials made the situation perverse on a national scale. For decades, the waste generated by production and consumption in Russia was not reprocessed, but stockpiled at various accumulation sites and dumps. Allocations for waste-management in budgets for all levels of government were made from the remainder of funds not used for other purposes.

 As a result, Russia has accumulated more than 90 billion tons of solid waste. The country generates 4 billion tons of additional wastes every year. Not more than 30 percent of the waste is reprocessed. The total area of dump sites is more than 250 000 hectares (618 000 acres). The greatest amount of waste is produced in natural resources extraction (2.8 billion tons), in refining (about 250 million tons), and in metallurgy (150 million tons). Around 90 percent of state-approved sites for the storage of solid wastes are operated not in compliance with safety standards and do not meet the sanitary norms. The lack of adherence to environmental standards, in turn, leads to the degradation of the soil, the contamination of ground and surface water, and secondary air pollution. Most storage sites are 90 percent or more full.   

Measures that are being taken in Russia’s regions to deal with the problem of storage sites are not sufficiently effective, as there is no unified technical policy for collecting, detoxifying, and reprocessing waste. No attractive economic incentives exist for encouraging the development of enterprises for handling wastes, conserving resources, and implementing environmentally-safe technologies. The inefficiency in the system of waste management is attributable, first and foremost, to the lack of regulatory norms that would encourage lower waste production, reward recycling, and set strict requirements for environmental safety.  

In view of the ubiquity of waste disposal sites, the rapidity of waste generation, and the diverse consistency of wastes that can have serious ramifications for human health and the environment, the government has made waste management one of the most important priority items on its agenda. Providing for the environmental security of the country and ensuring the well-being of citizens is considered to be absolutely critical.

The scale of the environmental catastrophe that could happen if no actions are taken led the Russian government to take up the waste issue during the January 30, 2008 session of the President’s Security Council. During that meeting, President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin made their recommendations for creating a waste management industry in Russia.

Members of Russia’s Federation Council have been working actively in formulating plans for developing the waste management sector. Several hearings of the Federation Council’s Committee on Defense and Security were devoted to waste management. Section meetings on environmental safety were also organized. From December 3, 2009 to December 5, a special All-Russian Conference was held on the subject of forming a waste management industry in the country.

The results of the work of the delegates at the Conference were expressed in the form of recommendations to the Federation Council and the State Duma as follows:

In order to provide for the environmental safety, ecological protection, and the creation of a waste management industry in Russia, legislative action should be guided by several factors:

- Inadequate protections and mechanisms that exist in current legislation should be altered in accordance with the determinations made by the Conference. The creation of a waste management industry in Russia must be adequately supported by requisite legislative measures.

- A conference of all enterprises working in the waste disposal and management sector should be held in April of 2010.

The Conference also asked the Russian government to expedite the creation of the strategy for handling industrial and consumption wastes. The Ministry of Natural Resources was asked to hold joint consultations with the drafters of the strategy in preparation to implement it.

In November of 2009, the Russian government adopted a law “On energy conservation and effective energy use.” The new law targets substantive issues relating to waste processing, the safety of the environment, and energy consumption.

The issue of what types of entities will be involved in waste processing has not been determined yet. Possible scenarios include granting exclusive access to state corporations, existing or new federal ministries or agencies, self-governing organizations, or a combination of the above. The most important concern, however, is that there should be adequate legislative provisions to stimulate efforts to restore environmental quality, reprocess existing waste, and recycle new wastes.

Significant changes can be expected in Russia’s environmental law, current regulations governing the oversight of waste management operations, as well as the scheme of incentives and preferential treatment for entities working in the waste sector. Experts believe that the principle of “the carrot and the stick” will inevitably prove to be instrumental. The mentality of the people as a whole also needs to be altered for the reforms to be successful.

The task of forming an effective waste management sector will take several years to complete. Analysts have already identified the stages through which the project for creating the new sector will go. In the first stage that should take about 2 years, lawmakers would need to draft and enact the required legislative foundation for the reforms. In the second phase that would last approximately 3 years, a whole-scale modernization of the industry and the implementation of the best available technology would take place, reducing to a minimum the volume of waste produced in Russia. The tangible consequences of the reduction of anthropogenic effects on the environment will become apparent only at this stage of the reform. During the last phase, the detrimental effects of industrial and consumer wastes on Russia’s environment will be lessened even more, as waste stockpiles will gradually be reprocessed.

Experts are convinced that with the experience of waste management industries of the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe, Russia would be able to go through the reform process relatively quickly – in 10 years, instead of 30. The amount of time it takes to implement the reforms can be reduced if Russia gets aid and assistance from Western countries. First, informational assistance would be necessary, as Russia needs to gain access to the newest databases of modern technology for reprocessing consumer and industrial wastes. Russia would also welcome economic assistance in the form of investment in the new waste-management industry. The government of the Russian Federation has confirmed its plan to accord preferential treatment to such investors, agreeing to offer tax benefits and other incentives.

Contact information:

127018, Moscow,

5 – 6 Sovetskoy Armii Street,

Tel. : (495) 684-3385, 8 910 480 2542,

e-mail: rmkhitarov@yandex.ru

www.fgunitspuro.ru.