OREANDA-NEWS  The Russian Environmental Operator (REO) proposed to allocate funds from environmental fines for the purchase of garbage containers. The company has prepared a corresponding bill, the REO reported.

Thus, it is proposed to eliminate the shortage of container sites in the regions. In addition, REO wants to involve regional operators for the removal of municipal solid waste (MSW) in the creation and maintenance of container sites. Currently, local governments are doing this — they often do not have the money to create and maintain sites.

The REO sent the document to the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia and the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management. It is proposed to amend Federal Law No. 89-FZ "On Production and Consumption Waste".

Denis Butsaev, General Director of REO, pointed out the importance of developing a system of separate waste accumulation for the formation of a closed-cycle economy in Russia. However, achieving these goals is impossible without the creation and regular updating of container sites and container fleet. Butsaev added that currently environmental fines and fees for negative environmental impacts can only be spent on eliminating harm to nature. "It would be logical to use them [funds] in such a way that there is less such harm, and use these funds to create a waste management infrastructure," he concluded.

As of February 2024, the total need for container sites for the accumulation of MSW was estimated by the regions at 206 thousand units. In total, 1.46 million such sites are registered in Russia.

Earlier, the REO cited data according to which Russians with a garbage chute sort garbage less efficiently than those who do not have garbage collectors. The volume of secondary resources collected in residential areas with a large number of open container sites for separate waste collection is 60 percent higher than in those with garbage chutes, experts said.