Garbage recycling in Russia, like many other things, distinguishes our country from the West. Basically, in Western countries, garbage is sorted according to certain criteria. The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation does not want to rush with the transition from burning waste to its processing.
Proposed Solution by the Ministry and its Federal Agency
In Russia, waste incineration plants are locally used for waste disposal. According to representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources, these plants are very energy- and cost-intensive and largely survive due to government subsidies. But the ministry still plans to build waste incinerators in accordance with the adopted concept for the treatment of solid waste until 2030. Rosprirodnadzor considers burning to be the most optimal form of waste disposal.
Why burning is not the best solution
It is dangerous from an environmental point of view to solve garbage problems in Russia by burning. With the help of waste incineration plants, solid waste is turned into smoke, which contains all carcinogens that do not disperse in the environment when storing garbage in landfills. As a result of the construction of such plants, an increase in the incidence of a number of serious ailments, including cancer, can be observed. But even if the issue under consideration is removed from the region of the most serious diseases, then emissions from carcinogens cause allergic reactions - the scourge of diseases of recent years. When burning garbage, dioxins are released, which are more dangerous than strychnine and potassium cyanide.
The problem of waste recycling in Russia exists, but it needs to be addressed.
The concept of the trash business
The waste management business should be based on the establishment of appropriate plants. Like any other business, this business requires the presence of initial capital for renting or buying premises, hiring personnel who will have to work on the appropriate equipment, but it will also need to be acquired.
In addition, you will have to collect a bunch of different documents allowing this type of activity.
It is also necessary to consider how the garbage will be delivered and how it will be sold. The first is especially relevant, since there is no culture of garbage collection in our country - on a local scale, it is all stored in one package without sorting and thrown into a garbage container. According to experts of Rosprirodnadzor, if the state does not encourage manufacturers of recyclables for purchases from waste processing plants, there is no future for such plants.
There are positive and negative aspects to waste recycling as a business in Russia.
Positive aspects of the garbage business
- The volume of garbage is unlimited.
- The processing product, as international experience shows, should be in demand.
- Such a business is likely to be supported by the local authorities, since recycling is also a headache for it.
- A processing plant can process various raw materials, or maybe some specific one, which facilitates the decision-making on the start of business development.
- Virtually zero competition - as will be shown below, there are practically no waste processing plants in Russia.
- With a reasonable organization of production, these plants can become fully recouped and profitable in a couple of years.
Negative aspects of the garbage business
- The most important minus is the sorting of garbage, as mentioned above.
- Large costs - the plant may pay off, or it may not pay off with an illiterate approach, but it will require initial costs, and these costs will not pay off in any case for a number of years.
- A huge pile of documents that the company will have to deal with in this business.
- Finding suppliers and buyers, especially at the beginning of a business, is very difficult.
Trash Statistics
Here are the statistics of garbage processing in Russia. Only 4% of the total volume in our country is processed. In 2017, the volume of solid waste in Russia exceeded 60 billion tons with an annual replenishment of 60 million tons.
All garbage in our country occupies about 4 million hectares, which is comparable with the area of Switzerland or Holland. Each year, this area is growing by 10%, which is comparable to the total area of the two capitals of Russia.
Currently, there are about 15,000 landfills in the country that have been authorized by the authorities, according to various sources, the number of landfills ranges from 200 to 1000.
More landfills are illegal. Most of them are in the Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Sverdlovsk and several other areas.
Garbage processing plants in Russia
The data of Rosprirodnadzor indicate that in our country there are only seven waste incineration plants located in Moscow, Sochi, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Pyatigorsk. Here, waste is burned, the resulting ash and slag are pressed and disposed of by landfill. Moreover, only 7-10% of the incoming garbage is burned. The cost of burning solid waste is higher than the cost of burying it.
According to other sources, there are more than 200 waste recycling enterprises in Russia, as well as about 50 waste sorting complexes. Let us consider in more detail some of the list of waste recycling plants in Russia.
Since 2008, the Novokuznetsk garbage recycling plant has been operating in the Kemerovo region. Waste is sorted here, recyclable materials are recycled, the remaining garbage is disposed of at a landfill for 75 years.
In Kursk region, in 2013, a sorting line for a waste processing plant was opened.
In Krasnoyarsk, there is a Chisty Gorod waste sorting plant , where up to 730,000 tons of solid waste are processed during the year. Recycled materials are sent for recycling, the remains of garbage are disposed of at your own landfill.
In 2014, a waste recycling plant was launched in Orenburg. Toxic substances such as medical waste and mercury can be processed here. The plant is equipped with a perolysis plant. Processing is possible up to 250,000 tons annually. Sorting is done manually. Residues are buried at the landfill and compacted with a roller.
There are several incineration plants in the Moscow region. These include State Unitary Enterprise "Special Plant No. 2", "Special Plant No. 3" (this plant operates with enviable inconsistency); since 2003, the Rudnevo Garbage Incineration Plant has been operating.
Worldwide experience in waste management
Debris is currently polluted not only the surface of the Earth, but also the ocean. In 1997, the American oceanologist C. Moore, passing through the North Pacific spiral, saw that heaps of garbage surrounded him far from land. According to him, it took him a week to overcome this pile.
In most countries of the world, garbage is collected not in one container, but in different ones, after sorting. In Ljubljana in Slovenia, as well as in Russia, they were planning to build incineration plants. Their construction was laid down in the 2014 project, but the country's leadership changed their minds on time. A special employee goes to the apartments. The need for recycling and the use of recyclables is actively promoted among the population.
Finally
Garbage processing in Russia is in the initial phase of its development. A very small amount of garbage is recycled. In Russia, the garbage business is not developed. He has his own prospects, but he should try his hand at those who are not afraid of paperwork, who have money for seed capital that can be risked. The management should listen to environmentalists and, instead of building waste incineration plants, pay attention to world experience in recycling.