An archive photo
MINSK, 5 February (BelTA) – Deputy Head of the Waste Management Regulation Office of the Belarusian Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry Maksim Tarasov drew attention to a number of innovations that occurred in the field of waste management in Belarus in 2025 during a presentation in BelTA’s press center.
The year 2025 was marked by a number of significant events in the field of waste management and the use of secondary material resources, said Maksim Tarasov. “On 20 May an expanded meeting to discuss these matters was convened by the head of state. As a result of the meeting the president gave the government a number of instructions. They were aimed at preventing waste generation, reducing the volume of waste, and maximizing the involvement of waste in the economic cycle as secondary material resources. To fulfill these instructions, the government has developed an action plan,” he said.
By the end of 2025 a lot of work had been done. In particular, a draft law was prepared to designate the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry as the single body that regulates and coordinates the work of republican and municipal government bodies as well as other organizations in the field of waste management, including the management of secondary material resources. This draft provides for transferring the functions of coordinating activities in the field of secondary material resources to the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry.
To ensure automated record keeping of municipal waste as well as the reliability and accessibility of information on the current state of the solid municipal waste management system and its development prospects, the Waste automatic information system has been developed. The implementation of this system is planned to be completed in Q2 2026. In addition, a concept for the development of infrastructure for sorting solid municipal waste has been developed.
The Council of Ministers Resolution No.444 of 18 August 2025 approved a strategy for the management of industrial and consumer waste in the Republic of Belarus. “This strategy was developed to form a comprehensive system for managing all types of waste. It is the main document that comprehensively defines the goals and prospects for developing such a system. The strategy aims to create an effective waste management system with a single global goal: to ensure that by 2040, the utilization rate of both industrial and consumer waste reaches at least 90%. This goal will be achieved and the tasks of the strategy will be accomplished in three stages. The first stage will last until 2030. By 2030 it is planned to achieve a 90% utilization rate for industrial waste (excluding large-tonnage waste) and a 70% utilization rate for solid municipal waste,” explained Maksim Tarasov.
The strategy provides for setting specific targets for the main waste groups and identifies the state authorities responsible for meeting them at the republican level. The strategy came into force on 22 August 2025, but a number of measures have already been taken to implement it. The strategy provides for establishing a single body to coordinate waste management activities, including the use of equipment for this purpose. In addition, the strategy includes a list of products that have to be manufactured using secondary material resources. It also includes a list of products and goods that are not allowed to be manufactured because the waste resulting from their use cannot be further processed or is difficult to process.
The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry will be able to establish a list of products that must use secondary material resources during the manufacturing process, a list of products and packaging which production and use are restricted or prohibited for the same reasons, and a list of priority products made from waste.
“In order to reduce the harmful impact of persistent organic pollutants on the environment, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry together with the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom is preparing a joint proposal for the development of a Union State program. This program provides for a comprehensive solution to protect the environment from contamination by obsolete pesticides, including the creation of a technology for their neutralization. As part of the program measures are being implemented to develop a facility for the neutralization of obsolete pesticides and to test this facility at the Gorodok landfill,” said the official.
As part of the implementation of the strategy the State Standardization Committee of Belarus has approved a program for the development of state standards in the field of establishing requirements for packaging that ensure its recyclability after it has lost its consumer properties. This program includes the development of 22 state standards that are harmonized with international and regional standards. It is scheduled to run until 2029.
The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry exercises constant oversight over compliance with waste management legislation. “In 2025 the ministry’s regional bodies carried out 6,200 control events, which revealed approximately 33,000 violations. Close attention in enforcement activities is paid to the elimination of unauthorized waste disposal sites, control over the burial of secondary material resources, including at solid municipal waste disposal sites, as well as compliance with the rules for operating such facilities,” concluded Maksim Tarasov.
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