I. Metshin: “A collection of recyclables was organized in a third of the yards of Kazan in less than 2 years”

(KZN.RU, December 4, Alsu Safina). It became known at today’s Business Monday that 54 land plots for the installation of pavilions for collecting secondary raw materials were allocated as part of the work on the transition to selective collection of garbage in Kazan. Another 10 land plots have been chosen for the installation of special containers for the collection of particularly hazardous waste: thermometers, fluorescent, and mercury-containing lamps. According to Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, the capital of the RT should be in the lead of these reforms not for the sake of ratings but for Kazan citizens to live in an ecologically clean city.

Since 2016, entrepreneurs have begun to install special containers in the yards of the city in order to collect used PET containers. Iskander Giniyatullin, the deputy head of the Executive Committee and the chairman of the Committee for Housing and Communal Services, said that more than 140 tons of plastic were collected with their help only in 10 months of this year. This plastic will be used again for the production of consumer goods.

“1200 containers for collection of plastic bottles is the first step, and there is already a noticeable result. A collection of recyclables was organized in a third of Kazan yards in less than 2 years”, said the head of the city. “This is the beginning of the road. The goal is to extract what is recyclable from the garbage”.

The results could be achieved in this work only through joint efforts of residents, business, and government. At the same time, the head of the city noted the importance of explanatory work with the population, including with the media.

The chairman of the Housing and Utilities Committee said that an information project is being developed for children to form a culture of waste management together with the Education Department.

I. Giniyatullin reminded that collection, transportation, processing, utilization, neutralization, disposal of waste are responsibility of the regional operator, which should be selected no later than June 1, 2018. The regional operator is selected by the authorized bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for a period of not less than 10 years. Separate collection is expected to be carried out by placing containers at special sites, adapted for separate collection of waste, as well as points for receiving secondary raw materials and specialized modules for separate collection of waste.

The reporter also noted that 54 land plots for the installation of pavilions for recycling are defined in the framework of the entrepreneurs support program. Now 35 pavilions are functioning in all districts of Kazan. By the end of the year, 12 more pavilions will be installed, next year the rest of them.

Recently, 30 containers for collecting used batteries were installed in state and municipal institutions and shopping centers of the city. “Old thermometers, fluorescent lamps, mercury-containing lamps are also included in especially dangerous type of waste that occur in everyday life”, said the speaker. “By the order of the Executive Committee, 10 land plots have been identified in Kazan for the installation of special containers for the collection of these types of waste, which are collected, exported, and disposed of by licensed organizations”.

“Separate collection allows saving natural resources and significantly reducing the negative impact of waste on the environment”, said I. Giniyatullin and cited the following data. 10 kg of batteries are the same amount of zinc as in 96 kg of ore, and the chemical waste crystallizes into salts, which are then used in medicine, agriculture, and light industry. Reuse of 1 ton of waste paper saves 17 trees from cutting down. 1 discarded battery poisons 20 square meters of earth soil.

“10 years ago we couldn’t even think that we will talk about the morphology of garbage. 25 years ago, I remember well how the main task, along with the roofs and elevators, was the lack of equipment for garbage disposal”, said Ilsur Metshin. “And today we are talking about selective collection of garbage”.

“Kazan should be at the forefront of all changes in environmental issues not in order to occupy some first place but to live in an ecologically clean city. We have to go this road through in the near future”, summed up the Mayor.