Ecology: development of programs for the neutralization of solid waste, collection and processing of production waste

   Solving the problem of garbage in Ukraine is not a search for new places for new landfills, but a search for ways and solutions for its disposal.

   Garbage - if not dumped directly on the ground, littering fertile soil, can give a person a lot of bonuses. So, for example, in Sweden, where up to 99% of garbage is recycled, this was understood back in the 1970s. First of all, the garbage is carefully sorted and then given new life. Newspapers, magazines and other printed matter are converted to paper pulp. Glass containers are reused or re-melted. Plastic containers are becoming plastic raw materials. Food leftovers go to compost or biogas production - they are fueled by public transport. Even for expired or spoiled drugs, pharmacists find their applications. And solid waste is recycled and serves as a source of heat and energy - it is used to heat almost 900,000 Swedish households. And since this is not enough, Sweden also imports up to 700 tons of waste from other countries!

   Also in Sweden, 30 power plants operate on waste, burning 5,500 000 tons of waste per year. The ash that remains after such incineration is not thrown away, but sieved to extract small solid particles from it - they are used in road works. After all, that one and only percent of waste remains, which is no longer subject to further disposal.

   In Germany, most of the garbage is incinerated, and the steam goes to power plants, where generators run. So in Berlin, they provide up to 12% of electricity needs. Also in Germany, they have mastered the extraction of almost pure methane from garbage: like biofuels in Sweden, this gas is used in the operation of municipal buses.

   In Switzerland, factories recycle up to 90% of all glass containers and 60% of batteries and paper.

   In general, in most countries of western, northern and central Europe, up to 97% of waste is disposed of, and landfills (in the Ukrainian sense of the word) are absent altogether. Recycled materials made of recycled plastic are in great demand there. Bottles, which are first turned into granules, are used to make household items, household appliances, pipes, toys and much more. And from unusable wood, straw, etc. make alternative fossil fuels in pallets for home heating. Due to the special processing of used tires, the raw materials from them are used for the manufacture of rugs, floors, shoe soles, tennis courts, as well as in road construction. Scrap, especially from non-ferrous metals, is also very profitable in the garbage business. The remelted metal can undergo multiple processing without losing its properties.

   Dozens of more examples can illustrate this kind of economical management. Of course, the basis of such a lifestyle is based on a highly organized society and the consciousness of citizens who participate in sorting garbage. For this, it is possible to use a system of fines and a system of incentives (return of packaging material and containers in retail outlets with reimbursement to the buyer of their collateral value).

   However, it makes no sense to sort waste in our yards until its separate processing is launched.

   Landfills in Ukraine now occupy 7% of its territory. Among them, there are about 6,500 authorized and more than 30,000 "spontaneous". All of this covers an area comparable to the size of a small country like Denmark. At the same time, there are only 4 waste incineration plants in the country: in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Sevastopol. But only one of them works - the Kiev plant "Energia".

   Back in 2000-2002. in Kharkiv, with the assistance of the EBRD, we prepared for the city of Kharkiv a "Concept for the development of an industry for the disposal of garbage waste", a summary of which is attached

- Waste disposal industry development concept