MINSK, 1 September (BelTA) – Belarus plans to raise the rate of municipal solid waste recycling to 90% in 2035, Maksim Tarasov, the deputy head of the directorate for waste management, biological and landscape diversity - head of the department for waste management at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, told the media in Minsk on 1 September, BelTA has learned.
“The national strategy provides for raising the recycling rate of solid municipal waste to 64% by 2025, 70% - by 2030, and 90% - by 2035. To achieve these goals we are planning to improve the existing system of solid municipal waste management, namely, to upgrade the system of accounting for the volume of landfills and morphological composition of MSW and secondary material resources, to develop the logistics for MSW separate collection, to fine-tune the legislation and management systems, to upgrade the infrastructure of MSW management system, to promote the use of MSW in energy production,” Maksim Tarasov noted. According to him, plans are in place to implement the MSW biological treatment technology. Such projects are to be implemented in Grodno, Mogilev and 20 cities with a population of more than 50,000.
“The MSW recycling rate is expected to reach 64% by 2025. Of these, 43% is planned to be achieved by improving the existing system of solid municipal waste management, setting up RDF fuel production facilities in Grodno Oblast and Mogilev Oblast and implementing the MSW biological treatment technology. Some 15% will be achieved thanks to the construction of energy facilities for MSW in Minsk," Maksim Tarasov said.
According him, for the maximum involvement of waste in the economic use, the MSW management system will be upgraded and transfered from the district waste management level to the regional one. Plans are also in place to set up 30 large integrated facilities for sorting and using MSW, each serving several districts. It is planned to use RDF-fuel at the enterprises of the Belarusian cement industry.
"In Belarus, the recycling rate of solid municipal waste is continuously growing. Since 2012, it has roughly doubled and stands at about 25-27% today. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection monitors and suppresses the emergence of illegal dumping sites of secondary material resources," Maksim Tarasov noted.
