Ilsur Metshin: “Next year, separate garbage collection will be one of the most important subjects for us”

(KZN.RU, December 24, Ksenia Shvetsova). From January 1, a new procedure for handling municipal solid waste (MSW) will take effect in Russia. In the near future, the regional operator, that is the OOO “UK PZhKH” for Kazan, will have to conclude agreements with all waste generators, private carriers, waste recyclers, owners of sorting stations, and landfills. Iskander Giniyatullin, the deputy head of the Executive Committee, told about Kazan preparation for the reform at the Business Monday today.

The goal of the reform is to organize the accounting and control of the waste movement from the moment of its formation to the final disposal, to create conditions for safe and efficient waste management, and to attract investment in the infrastructure of the industry. The territorial scheme of waste management has been developed in the RT according to the federal law “On Production and Consumption Wastes”. Regional operators have been determined on a competitive basis to carry out thermal scheme activities. The republic is divided into 2 zones. The regional operator of the western zone, which includes Kazan and another 21 municipal formations, will be the OOO “UK PZhKH”.

The task of the regional operator is the collection of MSW, sorting, extraction of hazardous waste and secondary raw materials for further processing, safe disposal of non-recyclable residues. A separate collection of MSW should be introduced everywhere. According to the territorial scheme, an environmental technopark will be built in Kazan in 2022. It will include a modern screening complex and processing plants producing finished products from selected MSW fractions, inter-municipal landfills with screening stations in Arsky, Alekseevsky and Verkhneuslonsky regions, a plant for thermal utilization of non-recyclable waste. As the speaker marked, the ultimate goal of the reform is to dispose of landfills.

“Kazan has already implemented most of the reform measures”, said the speaker. He reminded that on behalf of Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, a municipal waste management scheme was developed in 2007. Container platforms in the yards of individual housing were installed. In addition, the city has modern, efficient garbage trucks, waste sorting stations have been built, and landfills for disposal of waste have been put into operation: “Vostochny” and the one on Khimicheskaya Street.

The technical stage of the reclamation of the Samosyrovskaya landfill was completed in the outgoing year. The construction of the second map of the municipal landfill on Khimicheskaya Street was completed in December.

“A number of organizational measures need to be carried out in the framework of preparation for the transition to a new procedure for handling MSW”, said I. Giniyatullin. “The Housing and Communal Services Committee together with the administrations of the districts should complete the preparation of the municipal register of local waste accumulation soon. The procedure for it has been approved by the Government of the Russian Federation”. The responsibility for the maintenance of places of waste accumulation and container sites rests with the owner of the land where they are located.

Letters from the Ministry of Construction of the RT were sent to the heads of district administrations. They request assistance in collecting information on waste generators in the districts for the conclusion of the necessary agreements.

This responsibility is assigned to management companies, HOA and HBC on the territory of apartment buildings. The municipality is responsible for the maintenance of MSW accumulation places located on municipal land. There are 694 such sites in the city, including 263 in the territory of apartment buildings, 431 in the territory of individual residential buildings. According to I. Giniyatullin, financing of the municipal sites requires the amount of 12.1 million rubles per year.

The State Committee of the RT on tariffs approved the tariff for the regional operator in the amount of 365 rubles per cubic meter without VAT (or 439 rubles with VAT). “Based on this, the Ministry of Construction of the RT should calculate the amount of payment for citizens for exporting MSW and approve the procedure for its accrual. This work should be done before the end of December so that the regional operators could start next year”, noted the speaker.

This week, we will have to hold organizational meetings with the participation of the regional operator, entrepreneurs, management companies and the Housing and Communal Services Committee, added I. Giniyatullin.

Different regions differently determine the number of regional operators, tariffs and other issues, noted Ilsur Metshin. He marked that for the residents of Kazan won’t find difficult the changes made to the law. The capital of Tatarstan has long been taking steps towards the proper organization of the waste collection. The system of municipal waste management in Kazan was approved in 2007. “The country came to this only 11 years later. Container platforms and waste sorting stations are already working for us. The good rolling stock of garbage trucks is involved. We conducted a series of experiments on separate garbage collection, and now the regional operator must decide which of the approved options they will choose. We did not sit idle, we worked in this direction”, said I. Metshin. The innovations of the legislation will allow bringing order to the waste management system both in the region and in the whole country. “Life proves that it should have been done yesterday. We conserved and rehabilitated the landfill in Samosyrovo and built the landfill “Vostochniy” for a reason. The country is going to make it all happen”.

The implementation of the new system will not be easy and will take a lot of time, noted the head of the city. He added that the culture of separate garbage collection in Kazan needs to be introduced in kindergartens and schools. “Separate garbage collection is what we devote most of our time with the heads of districts, the management companies, the Department of Education. This will be our joint work with the regional operator. The level of such accomplishment and the cleanliness that we have achieved requires constant attention. Without this, we can’t imagine a clean comfortable city in the current realities with the amount of garbage that forms. We must work hard”, concluded I. Metshin.