Finland is a leader in waste management, recycling 99% of household waste and landfilling only 1%.

Finland's waste management system succeeds through a combination of government interaction, citizen awareness, and viewing garbage as an energy source.

Finland uses a system called MetroTaifun with automated pneumatic pipes and sorting stations to collect and process waste.

Sweden has implemented the world's first automated textile waste sorting facility, capable of sorting 24,000 tons of textiles per year.

South Korea's waste management system, introduced in 1995, has reduced waste disposal by 40% and achieved a recycling rate of over 60%.

South Korea's government has successfully reduced landfill waste by recycling food waste as livestock feed.

Japan has a well-developed waste management system, including recycling food waste as livestock feed and using sized waste bags to calculate service fees.

Taiwan has a complex and effective waste management system, supported by a waste levy policy that promotes reduction and recycling.

The European Union leads in implementing extended producer responsibility for packaging, with over 30 countries using recycled materials.

Germany has implemented Extended Producer Responsibility to reduce waste and increase recycling.

The Netherlands has a well-developed waste management system, using infrared scanning technology to sort waste in Amsterdam.

Vantaa, Finland has a waste-to-energy system that produces heat and electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20%.

Implementing waste sorting and recycling systems in countries like Finland, Sweden, and South Korea reduces carbon dioxide emissions, produces heat and electricity, and creates new jobs and industries.

The government plays a crucial role in promoting waste sorting and recycling through measures like deposit return schemes, garbage charging, and tax incentives.

Countries like Finland, Sweden, and South Korea demonstrate that a combination of government policies, investment, and public a

Finland is a leader in waste management, recycling 99% of household waste and landfilling only 1%.

Title:

Content: Ukraine will deepen cooperation with Finland in the direction of household waste management.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Regional Development, this was announced by the Minister of Communities and Territories Alexey Chernyshov during a meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Ukraine Päivi Laine.
It is noted that in Finland, only 1% of waste ends up in landfills, the vast majority is recycled.
This is the result of the interaction of the central and local authorities, as well as the awareness of citizens
Ukraine is also planning to adopt this experience.
“Finland is a country that demonstrates high standards of environmental waste management.
Almost all the citizens of this country sort the garbage.
As a result, 99% of household waste is recycled.
This experience will be useful for Ukraine.
So, a similar process is already underway in hromadas - in 1725 settlements of our state, a separate collection of household waste has been introduced.
But it is necessary to scale this direction and introduce useful practices of international partners in the country, "Chernyshov said.
Read alsoIn the Odessa region on the Danube, the dam is destroyed - under it meter voids In the press service reminded that thanks to the implementation of separate collection of garbage in 2020, about 6.3% of household waste was recycled and disposed of in Ukraine.
In turn, Laine noted that Finland is ready to share experience and help Ukrainian communities to implement waste processing projects.
“We also have companies that recycle waste into energy.
In such a comprehensive way, we improve the ecology of our country, ” she added.
Waste recycling in Ukraine
As UNIAN reported, in July 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the draft law No. 2207-1-d “On waste management ”.
The document establishes the procedure for the collection, removal and treatment of waste, ensures the introduction of their separate collection and recycling, provides for the requirements for the quality of the provision of waste management services and the charging of fees for such a service.

Finland's waste management system succeeds through a combination of government interaction, citizen awareness, and viewing garbage as an energy source.

Finland uses a system called MetroTaifun with automated pneumatic pipes and sorting stations to collect and process waste.

Title:

Content: Finland is the European leader in municipal solid waste recycling
Today, 11: 56 AM
Photo: vantaanenergia.fi
It took a little more than 20 years for Finland to almost completely abandon the landfill of solid municipal waste.
At the same time, giant landfills, even if they are closed, are not reclaimed here, in the Russian sense of the word, but turned into a source of income.
Currently, 99% of the country ’ s garbage is sorted and recycled.
Only 1% of the total amount of MSW produced has a chance to end up in a landfill.
One of the largest closed landfills is located in the satellite city of Helsinki – Espoo.
Its area is comparable to 280 football fields and is almost 200 hectares.
It is not surprising that after the closure, an industrial center was formed on its territory, in which enterprises for the generation of electricity and heat from landfill gas, as well as enterprises engaged in the processing of certain types of secondary raw materials (waste paper and glass) are concentrated.
In Ekpoo is the headquarters of the famous Finnish energy company Fortum.
It occupies a special place in the circular economy of waste.
In particular, it is engaged in the processing of plastic.
Up to 95% of the plastic in the waste generated by the Finns goes to its plant in another satellite city of Helsinki, Riihimäki.
Here, in automated production, plastic is sorted, cleaned, crushed and granulated.
According to experts, about 22 percent of all plastic waste is recycled in Finland.
The maximum percentage of plastic that can be recycled reaches about 80 percent, and they are striving to come to this figure in the coming years.
Non-recyclable plastic waste enters the furnace, where during combustion, heat is released, which, thanks to turbines and a water heating system, becomes electricity and hot water.
Containers without garbage trucks and five containers on chips
One often hears the astonished stories of relatives and friends living in St. Petersburg about how separate garbage collection is organized in Helsinki.
Visiting the Finnish capital in recent years has not been difficult.
Of course, a simple tourist is not up to landfills and thoughts about where and who takes waste, but there is something that will not remain without the attention of travelers.
A resident of St. Petersburg, Alexander often went on business trips to the capital of Finland, Helsinki.
He says that in some neighborhoods of the city there are containers that are not serviced by garbage trucks.
Our company for business trips often rented apartments, garbage from them had to be taken out by yourself.
You know, it is very unusual, not only to sort waste into five types (biomass, paper, mixed waste, cardboard and plastic), how much to understand that the containers are equipped with sensors that, when filled, report this to the waste control panel and the garbage is pumped out of the container via a pneumatic pipe, immediately getting to the recycling point.
Not everyone has access to such containers, but only residents of the microdistrict, since a special key-chip is needed to open it, - Alexander.
Such a waste sorting and collection system has been developed and implemented by the Finnish company Marimatic.
The technology is called MetroTaifun.
So far, it is only available in one suburb of the capital.
As its developers write, the entire system is automated, from each container its own pneumatic pipe delivers waste directly to the plant, where when raw materials arrive, its processing begins (additional sorting, grinding, pressing, etc.).
Perhaps, this will look like in the future the treatment of municipal waste in large megacities.
It's tomorrow's business.
What's today?
Large metropolis surrounded by recycling facilities
The peculiarity of the “garbage reform ” in Finland is that the country started it later than other European countries, so it could take advantage of other people ’ s experience and avoid mistakes.
The main thing on which the bet was made was to find ways to prevent waste from reaching landfills.
To do this, a separate collection of waste was introduced, which captured not only container sites and households, but also stores, as well as the manufacturers of goods themselves.
In cities, waste-free fast food and restaurants are not uncommon, hundreds of entrepreneurs find new niches for the use of secondary resources (for example, they produce fabrics from threads of previously used things), open second-hand and much more.
In almost every shopping center there are vending machines for receiving containers.
Around Helsinki, in its cities satellites built a network of sorting stations.
They specialize in certain types of waste.
All stations are located almost within the city limits.
Organic waste, which is usually the source of the garbage smell, is immediately taken to the plant for composting.
The whole process here is automated and produced in containers isolated from the environment.
Residents of neighboring high-rise buildings do not even think about what kind of object for sorting, recycling or recycling is located nearby.
The strict sanitary and environmental standards adopted in the country do not give any chance for environmental pollution.
Unsorted waste and so-called "tails" in the metropolitan area are taken to the incinerator in Vantaa.
There, the first incineration line was launched in 2014, the second in 2020.
The construction was not cheap - 300 million euros.
The plant is operated by Vantaan Energia.
Every day it receives up to 150 tons of waste.
According to the company on the website, the plant can burn up to 400 cubic meters of waste per second.
Every five seconds, he burns the annual volume of garbage produced by a Finnish family of three.
The German technology known as the Düsseldorf System is used here: the combustion temperature is about 1000 degrees Celsius, from the waste receiving bin it enters the rolls, where it is crushed and gradually lowered into the combustion chamber.
Thus, the filtration system eliminates harmful emissions.
Every year about 700 tons of various materials, mostly heavy metals, are extracted from flue gases and disposed of by Ekokem in Riihimäki (another suburb of Helsenki).
Slag is exported to the Emmassuo landfill, and gravel bottom slag is used in earthworks.
Now the company is testing a technology that allows the use of the ash formed.
The main difference from the German analogue - ignition is made by gas, not fuel oil.
The plant has built a bunker that allows you to store waste in reserve so that the technological process does not stop.
After all, the incinerator is also a thermal power plant, which produces 920 gigawatt hours of district heating per year, which is almost half of the needs of the city of Vantaa, and 600 gigawatt hours of electricity, which is 30% of the needs of Vantaa per year.
According to environmentalists, such production is more economical refers to resources, since fossil fuels are practically not used here.
The combined effect of producing such a volume of heat and electricity allows us to talk about a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, compared with the fact that the TPP operated on traditional fuels.
The reasons for this success were commented by the co-chairman of the Green Shield environmental society, editor-in-chief of the Ural Meridian news agency Alexander Anikin.
The main distinguishing feature of Finnish reform is the correct emphasis.
Garbage was immediately considered as a source of energy.
Therefore, energy companies have joined the recycling process, which are used to being responsible for both the quality of services and environmental friendliness.
The tasks were immediately global - to sort and return to circulation secondary resources, as well as to prevent the simple storage of waste at landfills.
It is this approach that radically changed the industry, making it strategic from purely communal.
Innovation and technology can and should be adopted, as our northern neighbor does.
It ’ s also a lesson we need to learn.
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Sweden has implemented the world's first automated textile waste sorting facility, capable of sorting 24,000 tons of textiles per year.

Title:

Content: Sweden has the world ’ s first automated textile waste sorting facility
Every year, almost six million tons of textiles are thrown out in the European Union.
That's 11 pounds per person.
Many...
Date of download: 2023-11-10
Every year, almost six million tons of textiles are thrown out in the European Union.
That's 11 pounds per person.
Many things can be used as recyclables.
But this is where the difficulties begin.
Not everything is recyclable, so waste must be sorted.
At this level, it is too much of a task.
They found a way out in Sweden.
The Malmö processing plant operates the world ’ s first automatic textile sorting plant.
The machine evenly distributes the waste along the conveyor belts.
After that, things fall under the near-infrared radiation and undergo spectroscopic analysis.
[Anna Vilen, Sysav employee]:
“The same method is used to sort plastic.
Infrared rays shine through the fabric, and then the machine determines the composition of the fiber. ”
Then the compressed air blows the thing to the desired tape.
After sorting, the textiles are packed in bales and sent for processing.
A smart machine can recognize three types of fabric at the same time.
24 thousand tons of textiles are sorted here per year.
This is almost a third of what is thrown away in Sweden during the same period.
[Anna Vilen, Sysav employee]:
“This is the first such enterprise, but certainly not the last.
Europe will need a lot more factories with automated sorting. ”
In Europe, textile waste is mostly incinerated or sent to landfill.
Earlier, EU countries agreed to ban the destruction of unsold textile products.
Also, according to experts, it is necessary to abandon the so-called fast fashion.
[Else Skold, Associate Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts]:
“Textile recycling is often equated with a circular economy.
But this requires high-quality textiles, high-quality products that can be repeatedly recycled, which we do not do.
Now we are recycling very low-quality textiles and turning it into a new low-quality fabric, and this is pointless. ”
Experts also say that mixed fabrics are not yet suitable for processing.
Usually cotton, linen, wool and polyester are used as recyclables.
The Swedish plant cooperates with IKEA and H & M, as well as with the network of sports goods stores Stadium.
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South Korea's waste management system, introduced in 1995, has reduced waste disposal by 40% and achieved a recycling rate of over 60%.

Title:

Content: 【 Printing 】
Swiss garbage smugglers evade high charges in France
Related LINKS http: / / www.CRNT.com 2024-04-23 10: 11: 12
Beijing, April 23 (Xinhua) -- According to a report by the British environmental consultancy Eunomia, the global recycling rate ranking in 2017, Hong Kong ranked 24th, and Switzerland ranked 9th.
Since 2012, the Swiss government has introduced a tax on garbage bags to subsidize waste disposal costs, but the high fees have led some Swiss to leave their waste in neighboring France.
To this end, the French government cracked down on "smuggling" garbage, blocking nearly 10 tons of garbage from Switzerland, and fined 150 euros each.
South Korea has implemented garbage charging since 1995, and the overall waste disposal volume has been greatly reduced by 40%, and the recycling rate has reached more than 60%.
Compared to “one size fits all ” measures, the Korean government implemented the waste reduction plan in a step-by-step manner.
Waste charging is carried out in the form of bag charging, and then gradually expanded to restrict the use of disposable products, recycling of kitchen waste, etc., to deal with waste in a multi-pronged manner.
The environmental equation “3R ” has a priority: reduce waste, reuse, and recycle. Lisa Ramsden, a member of Greenpeace America, pointed out that large food and daily necessities companies have been promoting recycling for many years, but the results have not been good, so the“ naked buy ” consumption model of Reuse and Refill, that is, self-purchased containers. Buy the required items to really reduce waste at the source.
【 Printing 】
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South Korea's government has successfully reduced landfill waste by recycling food waste as livestock feed.

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Book Lays Bare The West's Wasteful Food Ways

San Francisco's new law mandating that everyone recycle food waste puts the city on the cutting edge of composting.

But in Asia, the practice is commonplace in some countries.

They're a rare bright spot in author Tristram Stuart's new book, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal.

"In Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the government in a matter of years has put a lot of energy behind recycling food waste as livestock feed," Stuart tells NPR's Renee Montagne. "It's environmentally friendly, it provides cheap livestock feed for the farmers in those parts of the world, and it avoids sending the food waste to landfill."

Stuart makes the case that much of the developed world is thoughtless when it comes to the production and purchase of food. From fields of imperfect produce to the lettuce you left in the fridge a little too long, vast quantities of food are tossed daily.

There is a more responsible approach, Stuart points out.

"In the United States, under 3 percent of municipal food waste — so that's the food scraps that goes into people's garbage cans — actually gets recycled," he says. "If you go to a place like South Korea, the exact reverse is the case. It's about 3 percent that doesn't get recycled. The rest is recycled through composting and — very largely and very sensibly — through feeding that food waste to livestock."

Stuart says the U.S. has the resources to recycle its food waste as effectively as South Korea does.

"We have the solutions, we know how to do it," he says. "We just need to do it more effectively and across the board."

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Renee Montagne, one of the best-known names in public radio, is a special correspondent and host for NPR News.

Japan has a well-developed waste management system, including recycling food waste as livestock feed and using sized waste bags to calculate service fees.

Title:

Content: Bauhinia Party ｜ Refresh Waste Charges
Author: 01 Forum
Published: Updated:
Like most Hong Kong people, I did not have any concept or awareness of garbage collection, until I heard that it was officially implemented on April 1 this year, and I began to pay attention to it.
In fact, the legislation on waste charging has been passed by the Legislative Council as early as August 2021, and the specific provisions of waste charging are actually very simple and clear, that is, based on the "polluter pays" principle, all waste, whether from individuals, families or groups, or according to the pre-purchased designated garbage bags, or according to the weight of the waste, the "entry fee".
As for the government's intention to implement waste charging, it is also very clear and simple, that is, to force the public to reduce waste and recycle through charging, and promote the sustainable development of ecology.
Author ： Zhou Xiaojao
Although the rules are simple and clear, it is not so easy to really land.
In order to pay less, people will try to pack more garbage into garbage bags. How should those crowded garbage bags be tracked and handled? In order to pay less, people will dispose of their garbage in public places such as streets, parks, markets, shopping malls, etc., how should such behavior be identified and enforced? As for the different groups that produce large amounts of waste, as well as the property, cleaning, refuse collection and other organizations that assist in the disposal of waste, a series of countermeasures are also required.
It is in view of the complexity of implementation that the Government has set aside a preparation period of up to 18 months for the formal implementation of the Ordinance.
However, the general public, like the author, did not really start to pay attention to the new policy, which will affect every household, until the first two or three months of its implementation, and there was a lot of uncertainty and doubt. Ming. "
But the question is, is the disruption caused by garbage charges really just a problem of insufficient publicity?
How to deal with garbage is an old problem faced by cities, especially large cities.
Specifically, there are three core issues surrounding the garbage problem: First, how to control the amount of garbage generated? Second, how to encourage the classification of garbage management? Third, how to deal with different types of garbage? The first issue mainly relates to the source of garbage: how to avoid excessive packaging?
How to promote the environmental protection of packaging materials? The second issue relates to the recycling of waste: how to guide the public to separate and collect different types of waste according to the difficulty of recycling? The third issue relates to the fate of waste: simple stacking, centralized landfill or recycling, incineration and power generation?
In response to the above garbage issue, Hong Kong has not made a satisfactory response for a long time, let alone effective action.
The lunch boxes purchased on the street are still foam or plastic that cannot be decomposed. Shopping bags provided by shopping malls are also plastic products, and the goods purchased from the mainland are wrapped in plastic layer after layer.
There was a time when Hong Kong encouraged the classification of kitchen waste and the production of agricultural fertilizer from kitchen waste. Unfortunately, this good practice failed to persist, and the public has not formed a self-awareness of garbage classification.
A large amount of waste has been sent to the countryside to landfill without any sorting. The existing three major landfills are already overwhelmed, and facilities such as waste power generation have taken more than 10 years to start.
Solving the waste problem itself is a systematic project, involving all aspects, coupled with the interests of thousands of households and changes in living habits, so each country in the disposal of the waste issue mostly adopt a gradual, tailored, durable strategy.
Japan is recognized as the best country in terms of waste disposal. The key to its success is the gradual development of a sense of garbage sorting through half a century of sustained efforts and strict laws and regulations.
Mainland China also tries to start with garbage sorting, although there is a strong enforcement force, but the government still dare not play a game of chess across the country, but choose some cities to pilot first, and then gradually push to the whole country.
In contrast, Hong Kong, which has been lagging behind on garbage disposal, naively uses “polluter pays ” as the ultimate“ killer ’ s mace ” in an attempt to “get it done. ”
This mentality is understandable, but can a simple, one-size-fits-all waste charge really solve the waste problem facing Hong Kong?
Can you encourage eco-friendly packaging?
Can you promote garbage separation?
More importantly, can the current waste charging design really reduce the amount of waste generated?
I am afraid the answers to these questions are not as optimistic as the Government thinks.
If Hong Kong ’ s waste challenge is not effectively addressed, then what is the point of this policy, which costs the time and money of all citizens and stakeholders?
For example, in order to make up for the long-term inaction on reclamation, the SAR Government hastily launched the HK $trillion-dollar Lantau Island Construction Project in the absence of full consultation with the community, making it difficult for the project to ride under the current internal and external environment. The awkward situation.
The author is not sure whether garbage collection will also face similar experiences, but if the publicity and communication in the next few months can not convince the community that the relevant garbage collection policy can effectively solve the garbage problem faced by Hong Kong, then it is necessary for the SAR Government to suspend the implementation of the relevant policy, and redesign the plan to be more gradual and targeted, focusing on effectively solving the waste generation, waste management and recycling. A series of policies, and consistent implementation.
In fact, the above doubts about the government ’ s waste charging policy have emerged since the government first introduced the relevant bill to the Legislative Council in 2018.
Although the Bills Committee set up at that time to scrutinize the relevant bills supported the direction of the Government's waste reduction policy, it also made a large number of recommendations on the effective implementation of the relevant policies. Some members even held different views on whether the relevant fees could achieve the preset targets.
The Government has also responded to the views of the Bills Committee, including improving waste reduction and recycling measures and providing assistance to those in need.
Regrettably, these reasonable measures should be perfect in the two years after the passage of the relevant regulations in the preparatory stage either in the form, or the lack of publicity, and ultimately let this in the design of the innate deficiencies, in the landing and inadequate preparation of the waste reduction policy is likely to fall into the eyes of the public "workers hurt money" and abandoned halfway.
The author, Zhou Xiaojui, is a researcher at the Bauhinia Institute for Policy Studies.
The article is only the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.
Please email us at 01view @ hk01.com.
Please attach the author ’ s real name and contact details.
If not applicable, no notice will be given.

Taiwan has a complex and effective waste management system, supported by a waste levy policy that promotes reduction and recycling.

Title:

Content: Waste management in Hong Kong starts early and matures late. How can we catch up with Taiwan, Shanghai, Korea and the tail lights of the starry cars?
Author: 01 Weekly Report
Published: Updated:
Hong Kong's environmental protection policy has not made great progress. For many years, it seems that it has remained at the stage of "blue waste paper, yellow aluminum cans, coffee plastic bottles", and there is no plastic reduction policy.
Last year, the mainland stopped the import of waste paper, and Hong Kong recyclers also stopped collecting waste paper.
When the Government is faced with Members' questions on plastic reduction and countless initiatives by environmental groups, it is always in a state of "discussion" with the retail and restaurant industries, "under consideration", lest it harm the economic interests of the industry, and would rather harm the environmental benefits than see any actual action taken.
On July 1, 2019, the Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Ordinance was officially implemented.
At Haihong Bridge Station on the railway line, volunteers are promoting a little knowledge of garbage classification. (Visual China)
On the other hand, after years of vigorous promotion, waste management is well organized and highly efficient: South Korea ’ s waste management system is at the forefront of Asia, with Seoul being the most effective.
The local municipal authorities have the responsibility to collect, recycle and dispose of domestic and commercial solid waste. Waste management in Taiwan once lagged behind Hong Kong, but due to the early introduction of the waste levy policy by the Taiwan government, and then formulated a complex and effective waste management system, the situation in Singapore is gradually reversed. Shanghai launched the “Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Ordinance ” in 2019. The complicated measures have caused complaints from the public. Over time, the results can be said to be immediate after the people have familiarized themselves with the regulations.
Looking at the situation in these four Asian regions, it is not difficult to imagine why there is no systematic waste management in Hong Kong today, when we look back at Hong Kong's garbage collection practices, which rely entirely on the people's consciousness to separate and unsupervised waste.
For more details, please read the 285th issue of Hong Kong 01 (4 October 2021), “What should Hong Kong look for in Taiwan, Shanghai, Korea and Star? ”.
Click here to try our weekly newsletter for more in-depth coverage.
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The European Union leads in implementing extended producer responsibility for packaging, with over 30 countries using recycled materials.

Title:

Content: ROP, or How will Kyrgyzstan recycle its waste?
In Bishkek, a seminar was held on the topic of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for the disposal of goods and packaging, organized by the WasteNet.KG. project.
The seminar was attended by producers of products, government authorities, waste processing enterprises, non-governmental and international organizations and experts.
Director of CSR Central Asia Agency Asel Arstanbekova noted that the issues of environmental safety, social responsibility of producers are very acute.
“In many countries, the topic of social expanded responsibility is already active and, having studied their experience, we would like to determine what is applicable for Kyrgyzstan, ” she said.
WasteNet.KG expert Natalia Baidakova presented the concept of the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR), its implementation mechanisms, and the ultimate goal of which is to reduce and gradually reduce to zero the disposal of waste that can be used in recycling and recycling.
How is the situation with the ROP in Kyrgyzstan?
The issue of waste accumulation in Kyrgyzstan is reflected in many strategic documents, such as the National Development Strategy of Kyrgyzstan until 2040, the Green Economy Concept, and the Green Economy Development Program.
More than 40 laws include waste issues.
The main ones are the law on environmental protection, on industrial waste, which was adopted back in 2001.
Naturally, this document needs to be amended and supplemented.
In addition, a classification of hazardous waste based on international standards has been developed and adopted.
The legislation specifies that separate collection of waste should be carried out, for use as secondary resources it is prohibited to use hazardous waste as secondary raw materials.
But at the same time, many norms are absent, for example, there is no definition of what secondary waste is, there are no norms regulating the collection and processing of secondary raw materials, there are no norms for stimulating the processing of secondary materials, and so on.
The legislation undoubtedly requires changes, another thing is what these changes will be.
On March 19, 2021, a decree of the President of Kyrgyzstan on measures to ensure environmental and climate security was adopted.
A number of points were aimed at improving the efficiency of waste management, implementing separate collection of garbage, including stimulating the creation of recycling enterprises.
In 2019, a number of laws were also amended, for example, the law of consumption production, the procedure for handling hazardous mercury-containing waste.
What now?
In Kyrgyzstan, favorable conditions have been created for the organization of an effective management system and the introduction of expanded producer responsibility.
Thus, in December 2021, the Action Plan of the Cabinet of Ministers on the implementation of the National Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic until 2026 was approved, which provides for the implementation of a number of measures to improve the waste management system.
The measures are aimed at introducing amendments and additions to laws, regulatory legal acts, including in terms of introducing the principles of the concept of extended responsibility of manufacturers of ROP for the disposal of goods and packaging.
Experience of other countries and international companies
Aleksandara Akirman, Caucasus and Central Asia Public Relations Manager at The Coca-Cola Foundation, noted that almost all global manufacturers of goods and packaging have committed to transfer from 8 to 10% of secondary raw materials to new packaging.
“In the next five to ten years, the companies intend to use more environmentally friendly materials, develop new types of packaging, provide for collection and processing.
At the same time, companies are trying to work with government authorities in their respective countries to ensure that such systems develop.
Now in Kyrgyzstan there is a linear economy of packaging, in which most packages go to landfill, are dumped in the form of garbage.
Almost 100% of the primary material is used.
While in a circular economy, plastic packaging is used endlessly.
The new packaging needs to be recycled.
Such a circular economy is possible.
In more than 30 countries around the world, we produce packaging from recycled materials, ” she said.
The OECD Environment Directorate, economist and environmentalist Frisief Lubinger in his speech noted that at present the ROP system is actively developing and is beginning to be used more intensively around the world.
"The transition to PPE is particularly active in North America, Europe and a number of transition economies, but it should be noted that in transition economies, additional resources are needed to make the system fully operational," he added.
Next, Givi Kalandadze, an expert from Georgia, the chairman of the operator of the ROP, said that the country has a special law on waste management, which has a special section under number 9 dedicated to the ROP.
“Also, the law has an important section dedicated to responsible persons who monitor the ROP.
Such a manager should be in each organization and be responsible for coordination, for cooperation with stakeholders in waste management. "
Experts from Kazakhstan and Russia also spoke about the system of implementation of the ROP in their countries, about successes and failures.
In addition, during the event, it was noted that the first place in the ROP system for packaging is occupied by the countries of the European Union, in which Belgium is the leader, where 91% of the population sorts garbage.
Next are the countries of the Middle East, followed by the countries of Africa, then Latin America, followed by Canada, then the countries of Southeast Asia and close the list of the countries of the former USSR.
Author: Munara Borombaeva.
Photo: Vlad Ushakov
Source: Kuramastory
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Germany has implemented Extended Producer Responsibility to reduce waste and increase recycling.

Title:

Content: Society30 August 2021 6: 00
Experts: Russia spends billions on the elimination of landfills instead of recycling waste
The adoption of the new concept of extended producer responsibility cannot be delayed.
Manufacturers can either dispose of the waste themselves, or pay for this eco-fee, which will be aimed at the development of industries for the recycling of garbage.
Photo: Valeria TITOVA
The amount of waste in our country is growing exponentially: every year, Russians send more and more garbage to the dump.
At the same time, 90% of MSW goes directly to polygons.
More than half of this garbage consists of containers and packaging that cannot be disposed of.
Environmentalists are sounding the alarm: if the situation is not reversed, the area for storing waste in landfills will end in the next five years.
Experts believe that the new concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) should save the situation.
It will become a driver for the development of the waste processing market in Russia.
The essence of the concept is simple: for recycling should pay not the people, but the one who produces packaging and makes a profit from it - business and international companies that bring their goods to Russia.
This is called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
At the same time, manufacturers can either dispose of waste themselves or pay an eco-fee for this, which will be aimed at the development of industries for the recycling of garbage.
This concept works successfully in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and many other countries.
The effectiveness of the ROP has already been seen in Belarus, where manufacturers are also obliged to recycle packaging.
However, in Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development, under pressure from the business community, proposes to postpone the adoption of new rules by two years, citing the fact that enterprises are not yet ready for changes.
Photo: Valeria TITOVA
FACTORIES HAVE ALREADY BEGINNED THE MODERNIZATION
The abbreviation ROP appeared in 2015, when a corresponding amendment was made to the federal law.
Since then, according to Denis Kondratiev, CEO of the recycling company SOEMZ, the industry expects when, finally, the ROP will come into force.
Given that many large multinational companies are involved in this area, the industry was ready to introduce ROP from the very beginning.
- The industry began to increase capacity in anticipation of large changes to increase the collection of raw materials.
In this case, rubbish.
Practice shows that such changes occur within 5 years, - Denis Kondratiev emphasizes. - If there is a surplus of raw materials, then this prosperity can be converted into money.
Recycle more raw materials and produce more products.
The factories began to modernize.
In his opinion, the wait was too long, many representatives of the industry were disappointed, given that they have been living in such a situation for six years.
President Vladimir Putin has set the task of launching expanded producer responsibility in the country by 2022.
However, the manufacturers of the goods said that they were not ready yet, and asked for a delay.
As a result, the state froze the entry into force of the bill for a year.
- In six years, strange associations have been created that say they have made billions of investments.
In fact, no investment was made, - said Kondratyev. - So far only profanity.
It was not the ROP, but the extended irresponsibility of producers.
We hope that the President was not mistaken in his words.
This means that the ROP should be launched in 2022.
This year, the state Duma will adopt a bill.
Photo: Valeria TITOVA
“THE PROGRAM SHOULD BE EARN BY 2022 ”
Experts note that the restart of the concept will give a tangible economic effect of the expanded responsibility of manufacturers.
Last year, a broad discussion of the new concept was held with representatives of the business community, public organizations and the Government of the Russian Federation.
During his address to the Federal Assembly, Vladimir Putin set the task of introducing it this year.
A ROP roadmap has been created and the concept of limiting the recycling of products through associations has been incorporated.
- When this system is operational, a single supervisor is needed to account for all recycling processes and transparency.
This was also talked about a lot in our country, - emphasizes the deputy chairman of the committee on waste processing and secondary resources of Delovaya Rossiya LLC Ildar Neverov. - There is no doubt that the program should be operational by 2022.
Ecosboration should go to the budget of the Russian Federation in a significantly larger amount, and it should be painted.
These funds will be a significant help in financing changes in the waste processing industry, which are planned in Russia.
This is what the business community needs.
It is not enough to simply recycle waste - it is also necessary to establish the sale of recyclable materials, says Julia Kuzovleva, deputy general director of the company "Oris Prom" (the company is engaged in processing tires).
The buyer needs to be convinced of the need to use recycled materials.
Otherwise, the recycler will lose economic interest and switch to other activities with more liquid waste.
- Defined a standard of 7400 rubles, this is a good price.
But so far none of the recyclers has not received this standard for the collection system per ton of raw materials, - says Julia Kuzovleva. - When it began, the standard was 3500 rubles, now - up to 2000 or 1000 rubles per ton.
If the rate is raised, then there will be more financial resources, if you choose honest recyclers who will physically collect this waste, openly play on the market, then the situation will change, processing capacities will appear.
Photo: Valeria TITOVA
REDUCTION OF POLYGONES AND CREATION OF NEW WORKPLACES
The new concept of ROP will become a driver for the transition to a circular economy, Alexei Sergeev, Executive Director of the League of Waste Paper Processors, is convinced.
The creation of such an economy will not only lead to the reduction of polygons, but will also create new jobs and increase the competitiveness of the country.
At the same time, with each year of the slippage of the introduction of the ROP, Russia is forced to spend billions of dollars on the elimination of landfills and the recultivation of landfills.
“At the same time, manufacturers of goods still do not think about their packaging being processed, they are not interested in increasing payments to the system, and without this, the economic model of the system does not work, ” Aleksey Sergeev is sure.
He notes that the last six years have shown the futility of waiting: negotiations with manufacturers of goods can last indefinitely.
Only decisive actions of the state and the speedy implementation of the ROP will ensure the implementation of the tasks set by the President of the country, and save Russia from garbage collapse.
Photo: Valeria TITOVA

The Netherlands has a well-developed waste management system, using infrared scanning technology to sort waste in Amsterdam.

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Photo: photo by Alexander Shahbazov
New approaches to waste management developed in Almaty
New approaches to waste management have been developed in Almaty.
In the metropolis already conduct a separate collection of solid household waste.
BaigeNews.kz learned about the prospects of separate garbage collection and the goals of the Almaty authorities for waste management.
In Almaty, there are more and more people who consciously approach the emission of household waste, sort waste for further processing and even carry waste from cardboard, paper and plastic to special reception points.
Conscious citizens admit that when properly sorted, a bag of recyclable waste is most often larger than a bag of other waste that cannot yet be recycled in the country.
For example, today in Kazakhstan do not recycle tetrapacks, and they still go to the basket with non-recyclable garbage.
The Akimat of Almaty supports such initiatives in every possible way and has already put more than a thousand special containers on the sites in the yards next to ordinary tanks.
In appearance, they look like an iron mesh box, and here residents can put such waste that is already processed in the city - plastic, paper (waste paper), glass, metal, cellophane and rags.
In the near future, there will be another 454 such containers in the city.
In addition, Almaty residents have access to 37 waste collection points that can be recycled.
In particular, one of the plants in Almaty produces polyethylene granules and stretch film from secondary raw materials.
At the waste sorting complex in Almaty, everything that can be recycled is taken away and sent to production.
Now 13 organizations are cooperating with this complex to process the selected recyclables.
The remaining waste is removed for burial, taking into account the norms of environmental legislation, to the landfill located in the village of Aytey, Karaysai district, Almaty region.
According to the statistics of the akimat of Almaty, more than 1200 tons of solid household waste are processed in the metropolis per day, of which 17% are processed.
Ecologist Mels Eleusizov believes that landfills in the Almaty region and the whole country should be closed and reclaimed so as not to be a “time bomb ” for the ecology and health of the inhabitants of Kazakhstan.
And sorting household waste of the population, he proposes to carry out in the yards manually.
"Today Almaty" produces "waste containing about 40 types of materials that can be recycled.
I have long proposed to organize sorting points on garbage sites so that employees manually sort waste and then in this form would be sent for processing.
This would provide not only smart waste management, but also new jobs, ” says Mels Eleusizov.
In developed European countries, landfills have been forgotten for a long time.
Here, at the state level, a hierarchy of values in relation to waste is built.
The main principle is to reduce the volume of "production" of garbage.
Those waste that still remain, sort and only what is already impossible to recycle, safely burned, getting energy used in the city.
At a special waste sorting plant in the capital of the Netherlands - Amsterdam bring all the waste of citizens and enterprises.
Here, with the help of a new technology - infrared scanning, waste is automatically taken from a huge pile that can be recycled.
Suitable as a secondary raw material waste is sent with a pressed form for processing to other enterprises.
The rest of the waste will have to be burned here to get steam and send it to heat houses and heat hot water, as well as generate electricity.
Burning garbage occurs in compliance with all environmental standards, measurements are 24 / 7, and if the excess of safe concentrations of harmful substances is recorded, the entire complex is immediately stopped.
What comes out of the pipe, according to experts, you can breathe, in the Netherlands and the EU very strict requirements for emissions.
The remaining ash is not buried, but is completely used for asphalt production, another sludge is sent for burial in special underground mines in neighboring Germany.
Speaking about sorting garbage, employees of the waste sorting plant in Amsterdam (AEB) say that residents of apartment buildings in megacities, even in Europe, can not sort all the garbage, so in Amsterdam, residents throw away only plastic, paper (waste paper) separately.
All the rest of the garbage will be sorted out by the automatic garbage sorting system at the garbage sorting plant.
“There is an opinion that if people at home sort the garbage, then you can get more recyclables for recycling.
But we have seen in practice that new technologies make it possible to sort garbage collected in a heap at a factory even better than if people in apartment buildings sorted 100 percent of their waste.
But in private houses in Amsterdam, the tenants themselves completely sort the waste, and he does not even go to our garbage sorting complex, but goes straight to processing.
In principle, there are very few landfills for waste disposal in the country, and none of them are currently used for disposal of waste from households.
There are several mines for the disposal of waste such as ash, but their negligible amount, ” said the manager of the waste sorting plant Amsterdam (AEB) Cohen Bytink.
Almaty and Almaty region jointly plan to adopt best practices.
Similar to the Amsterdam garbage sorting complex is promised to be built on the existing garbage sorting complex in the Ili district.
In the next few years, they will not only select waste for usable and not recyclable, but also get biogas from them.
The expected capacity of the plant is 120 thousand tons per year, and the construction will be carried out by a Kazakh-Spanish company.
In addition, the city is beginning to collect food waste, and they are also promised to use it for the production of biogas, and this is in line with the plans of Amsterdam, where they do not yet do anything with food waste, and also, as in Almaty, they plan to produce biogas from them.
photos by Alexander Shahbazov
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Vantaa, Finland has a waste-to-energy system that produces heat and electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20%.

Implementing waste sorting and recycling systems in countries like Finland, Sweden, and South Korea reduces carbon dioxide emissions, produces heat and electricity, and creates new jobs and industries.

The government plays a crucial role in promoting waste sorting and recycling through measures like deposit return schemes, garbage charging, and tax incentives.

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Scottish bottle deposit scheme to be blocked – but evidence from Europe suggests it’s the way forward

Unrecycled drink containers are a huge problem in the UK. A survey by Planet Patrol, a non-profit organisation, found that the drinks industry was responsible for more than a third of the litter found in the UK in 2020 and 2021. The items included plastic and glass bottles, metal drinks cans, single-use cups and lids.

This is a concern. Litter takes years to degrade, causing harm to wildlife and habitats, and cleaning it up is expensive. Street cleaning costs UK taxpayers an estimated £1 billion each year.

The Scottish government has proposed a deposit return scheme. People will pay a 20p deposit when they buy a drink in a single-use container, which they get back when the empty bottle or can is returned. Scottish drinks containers would also need to be specially labelled and tracked.

But the scheme is under threat. The UK government is unlikely to agree to the trade exemption needed to enable trade rules in Scotland to differ from the rest of the UK. And critics argue that a deposit return scheme will be difficult for smaller retailers in an already competitive sector due to the costs of handling returns and registering with the scheme.

However, similar schemes in other European countries have prevented huge volumes of litter from entering the environment. These deposit return schemes offer insight into how effective a measure they can be and provide a possible route for implementation in the UK.

Evidence from Europe

In Finland, a deposit return system for glass bottles was introduced in the 1950s and continues today, having included plastic drinks containers for the past 20 years. The scheme is operated entirely by the private sector, with 5,000 plastic container-return machines located across the country in shops, hotels, restaurants, offices and schools.

Each time a person buys a drink in a bottle or a can, they pay a 15 to 40 cent deposit, depending on the material the container is made out of. The containers are then recycled or the materials are reused on their return.

Almost every bottle and can in Finland is recycled as a result of the scheme. In 2020, Finnish residents recycled 94% of aluminium cans (out of 1.4 billion sold) and 92% of plastic bottles (out of 530 million). By contrast, just 82% and 57% were recycled in the UK respectively.

Norway has achieved an even more impressive recycling rate of 97%. Norway’s deposit return approach is instead supplemented with an environmental tax imposed on bottle producers. The tax is NOK 6.46 (£0.50) per unit of metal and glass and NOK 3.91 (£0.30) for plastic items. To avoid the tax, producers must recycle more than 95% of the containers they produce.

Plastic bottles usually end up being “downcycled” into other items, like fleece materials. But the tax has encouraged producers of plastic bottles in Norway to make bottles easier to recycle by using more uniform and less contaminated materials. Efforts have included using approved bottle tops and glue and labels that are easier to remove. The quality of recycled plastic in Norway is now so high that recycled bottles can be made into new bottles.

Plastic recycling schemes in Europe have also delivered social benefits. The Finnish system allows people to choose to collect their deposit or donate it to charity. In Berlin, those not inclined to return their bottles to the store can leave them under bins for others to collect and claim the reward.

Public acceptance

The success of a deposit return scheme largely depends on what happens to the item once it is returned. Success is not based on economic viability alone. Any deposit return scheme needs to be acceptable to the people who run and use it.

Cost-benefit analysis of two separate deposit return schemes (recycling and reuse) for plastic food trays in Sweden found that the costs are greater than the benefits for recycling, but not for reuse. If you consider the costs involved in packaging, washing and the recycling process, then a return scheme may work best if the item is reused.

In Scotland, concerns about how the scheme will run and its real benefit are chipping away at the confidence of the public and drinks retailers. Research finds that many people in Scotland are unaware of how the deposit return scheme would operate and why it is necessary. Some of the study’s participants even perceived the refund charge as another form of taxation imposed by the Scottish government.

Communication plays a critical role. A different study, which explored the public acceptance of a deposit return scheme in Catalonia, Spain, revealed that the way a scheme is presented to users and how much information is given influences how it is perceived. More information (given over the phone) tended to yield a more positive viewpoint.

Clearly, more information is required for Scotland’s recycling scheme to be accepted more widely.

If designed correctly, deposit return schemes can encourage recycling by raising the value of plastic waste. Recycling and reuse schemes are also made more technically and economically viable if backed up with tax incentives.

But the barrier facing the adoption of a deposit return scheme in the UK is a lack of uniformity. We should not be asking if Scotland should adopt a scheme or not. Instead, plans for the rest of the UK to adopt this approach should be accelerated to get the whole of the UK on the same page.

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Countries like Finland, Sweden, and South Korea demonstrate that a combination of government policies, investment, and public a