The Cabinet of Ministers has updated waste management requirements for businesses

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a decision to amend and simplify the rules governing the operations of enterprises in the waste management sector. The adopted regulations are intended to maintain a balance between environmental control and the operating conditions of industry during martial law, as well as to help support the competitiveness of Ukrainian manufacturers.

According to the government resolution, the program for the control and monitoring of landfills will now be developed for a five-year period instead of being renewed annually. The document also simplifies the procedure for classifying production residues as byproducts and facilitates the issuance of permits for the cross-border transport of certain types of waste. 

In addition, the decision aligns environmental measures with current legislation to eliminate uncertainties regarding funding from the State Fund for Environmental Protection and introduces transitional rules for participants in a pilot project aimed at simplifying the process of obtaining waste treatment permits.

Source: Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine.

More than €28 million has already been allocated for the construction of a mechanical-biological treatment facility in Lviv, but the project has not yet been completed. The plant, with a capacity of up to 250,000 metric tons of waste per year, was supposed to be completed by the end of 2025, but in 2026, the contract with the contractor was terminated due to significant breaches of obligations.

In the Uzhhorod region, another fire has broken out at the region’s largest municipal solid waste landfill. Emergency responders are working to extinguish the blaze, but strong gusts of wind are causing the flames to spread, and the fire is growing in scale.