First recycling kiosks in Russia will be installed at Kazan schools for automated collection of plastic and glass containers

Kazan became the first city in Russia to launch a pilot project to install recycling kiosks for automated collection of plastic, glass and aluminum containers. Automated devices for separate collection of plastic bottles and aluminum cans have been already installed at schools. In Kazan, for the first time in Russia, it is planned to create a full cycle of separate garbage collection – recycling kiosks will become one of the key elements of the system of sorting and waste processing, which is being implemented in the capital of Tatarstan.

Today, the pilot project was launched by Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec Corporation, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin and Andrey Shipelov, CEO RT-invest. A presentation of recycling kiosks took place at the school № 181, at the same time, a plastic and aluminum collection campaign has been launched for students. In total, recycling kiosks have been installed at 20 Kazan schools.

Ilsur Metshin said that the project will reach not only schools, in the future, every citizen should be involved in the process of separate garbage collection. “We began a hard work, because the most important thing is to work with the mentality of people. We started it from the yards – you can see new sites. These are not pictures or drafts, but already implemented projects. According to the presidential program, we have developed 5 types of collecting garbage sites in each yard – for Khrushchev-era houses, panel houses, and so on. And according to the presidential Our yard program, they will be installed at all 3 thousand yards. In all 189 schools and 312 kindergartens, work has already been begun – separate waste collection is underway. All the organizations of the Executive Committee are included in the process – we lead the way. With our partners, we must push along in 3-4 years, while Western Europe has completed it in 10-15 years. This is our plan,”- the mayor said.

Rustam Minnikhanov emphasized that it is important to start this work from the school bench, and thanked RT-invest company for participating in the project.

Sergey Chemezov noted that the experience of Kazan is very important throughout the country. “In Russia, up to 70 million tons of garbage are produced annually. Rostec, together with our subsidiary RT-invest, decided to establish centers for sorting and waste processing. A whole network of sorting centers will be established, both in the Moscow region and here. One of the stages of separate garbage collection is the installation of recycling kiosks that will be delivered to schools, public places and sports complexes. Thus, each of us will be able to make a certain contribution in this process and teach others”, - he said.

School №181 was chosen for the presentation of a recycling kiosk for a good reason. It actively participates in the separate garbage collection program, and, even, the environmental class was created here.

According to the technical manager of the project, Maxim Troshin (RT-invest), recycling kiosks of native technology (Volgograd) were developed specifically for Kazan schools in the shortest possible time – in just 6 months. The devices are designed to accept plastic bottles and aluminum cans– they should be placed one by one in a special window. One kiosk can accommodate up to 800 plastic bottles and 400 aluminum cans with a volume of 0.5 liters, that gives about 25 kg of raw materials. On average, the kiosk will have to be filled in within 3-5 days.

All devices will be connected to the regional system for waste accumulation monitoring. Thanks to this, the Kazan regional operator RT-invest – the management company PZHKH – will promptly export raw materials to sorting stations and forward it to processors. In the future, the types of recycling kiosks will expand: there will be an outdoor container-type model with a capacity 10 times more than the models for indoor use. According to experts, for the full-scale implementation of the recycling kiosks system in Kazan, about 2500-3000 kiosks are needed.