Prospects for environmentally safe mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste in Ukraine

Abstract

Improving waste management is currently one of the priorities for Ukraine in the environmental safety. EU experience in the use of mechanical biological waste treatment technologies should be applied now in connection with the development and implementation of Regional Waste Management Plans in Ukrainian regions. The aim of the paper is to analyse the benefits and the preconditions of using mechanical biological waste treatment technologies in Ukraine, as well as barriers that may hinder the construction of mechanical biological waste treatment plants. The analysis of the eight drafts of the Regional Waste Management Plans showed that the mechanical biological waste treatment technologies market is free in Ukraine and the best option for the regions where there are cement plants operating is production of solid recovered fuel. Such types of projects could be affordable for Ukrainians with the cost recovery period more than 8 years. On the other hand there are significant obstacles of economic, organizational and technological nature to their immediate implementation i.e. low rates on waste disposal tax, partly compliance on air emissions monitoring system, absence of necessary standards etc. The priority actions to speed up mechanical biological waste treatment technologies implementation have been defined.

Management of Secondary Raw Materials in Ukraine. Challenges and Opportunities

“…Not only are there not enough waste-sorting complexes, but also not enough containers for separate waste collection; -as a result of the weak export of secondary raw materials, there is not enough of it for those companies already engaged in recycling to load their lines to full capacity; -the economics of separate collection of municipal solid waste is unprofitable; the introduction at the legislative level of the principle of extended producer responsibility will provide adequate financial resources for this; -increasing requirements for the quality of secondary raw materials; -the lack of reliable data on the production and disposal of municipal solid waste; -low rates do not provide an incentive to raise operating standards or achieve higher levels of recycling. The relatively "low cost" of recycling creates distorted incentives for operators and local authorities to choose between landfilling and recycling (Makovetska, 2021). At the same time, increased attention to attracting secondary resources will provide significant benefits for Ukraine.…”

Environmental and Economic Evaluation of Mechanical Biological Treatment System for Municipal Waste Considering the Political Framework in Ichihara City

“…Evaluating MBT plants in Japan is necessary, but since waste quality and the scale of treatment in facilities differ regionally, it is necessary to consider Japan's unique regional characteristics [23][24][25][26]. Many LCA-related articles only present inventory data and evaluation results without showing detailed calculation methods; however, unless the detailed calculation process and estimation results are presented, they are not helpful for evaluation in different model regions.…”