25% of municipal waste in Kazan is sent for recycling

(KZN.RU, January 29, Ksenia Shvetsova). The first results of the introduction of separate waste collection, launched last year on the territory of the Aviastroitelny district, were summarized In Kazan. At the beginning of the project implementation, 7-10% of garbage was sent for recycling. Today, at least 25% of recycled waste is removed from containers. Iskander Giniyatullin, the deputy head of the Executive Committee, reported this to Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, summing up the work of the housing and communal services industry over the past year.

A pilot project for the implementation of a separate municipal waste collection was launched in the capital of Tatarstan in the summer of 2018. 428 containers for recyclable and non-recyclable waste were installed at 109 container sites of the Aviastroitelny district. Containers for sorting MSW were also installed in many yards of the Moskovsky district during the overhaul of yard territories.

The project on separate waste collection confirmed its viability and showed the interest of citizens in it, noted I. Giniyatullin. "Creating the necessary conditions for separate waste collection, educational programs in schools and kindergartens and other activities give their results”, said the speaker. He noted that already 20-25% of waste is sent for recycling, and citizens began to more consciously dispose of garbage.

The introduction of the separate waste collection was an important step in preparing for federal reform in the field of municipal solid waste management. Changes in legislation entered into force on January 1. They did not affect the work of the Kazan public communal services, but allowed continuing the implementation of the project on a larger scale.

“A competent organization of separate collection allows reducing the volume of removal of municipal solid waste to landfill by 30-35%”, said I. Giniyatullin.

“This year separate waste collection is something that we will work on all the time, systematically. We need to sort the waste. Moreover, these numbers are already a quarter less then we used to carry to landfills! We need to develop a work plan with the heads of management companies, discuss all issues. The whole situation in the city should move in the same direction”, marked Ilsur Metshin.

The introduction of the separate waste collection will continue this year. According to the deputy head of the Executive Committee, it is planned to include requirements for the organization of container sites with separate waste collection in local urban planning regulations. “We will build sites, create necessary conditions for residents. There are good results from this”, concluded I. Ginniyatullin.

On January 1, a new procedure for handling municipal solid waste (MSW) began to operate in Russia. The OOO “UK PZhKH” has become the regional operator that is now responsible for garbage collection from Kazan and the western zone of the RT. 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.