Prospective Directions of Waste Management to Ensure Energy Security of Ukraine

Abstract

Background. The largest part of human history considered waste and its reuse an essential aspect of economic activity, even when this aspect has become almost invisible in the age of modernization, industrialization, and mass production. A full-scale war in Ukraine due to the invasion of Russia becomes a critical phase of the review of the waste management process to ensure energy security. The latter is critical for Ukraine in connection with constant missile attacks, the destruction of the country's energy infrastructure, and the appearance of a significant amount of waste. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to analyze prospective directions of waste management to ensure Ukraine's energy security. The object of the study is the concept of waste management as a means of ensuring energy security. Methods. The author applied a scientific literature review, analysis and systematization of existing theoretical ideas about energy security and waste management. Results. The term energy security remains quite new, and in Ukraine, in connection with a full-scale war, it gained the most publicity and attracted the attention of various individuals, from the population to global world leaders. As of November 2022, the amount of losses in the energy sector of Ukraine, together with the losses of utility companies and the heating utility, exceeded 9 billion dollars. Although the issue of waste management to ensure energy security is new for our country, the author of the article noted that the main vectors of implementation can be considered the following: introduction of proposals to separate norms of the current legislation of Ukraine; development of projects of local normative legal acts, in particular, statutes of territorial communities; development of separate Regulations on interaction with business structures in territorial communities; making changes to regulations of local councils, etc. Conclusions. The issue of energy security is of primary importance, and the management of waste generated and growing as a result of the war on the territory of Ukraine will become an effective tool for ensuring Ukraine's energy security. Moreover, waste as a resource will be able to create energy for EU countries.