Lviv has spent more than €28 million on a waste-to-energy plant that has yet to be completed
More than €28 million has already been allocated for the construction of a mechanical-biological treatment plant in Lviv, but the facility 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.
This was reported by the Accounting Chamber.
The auditors concluded that, despite significant funding, Lviv still lacks the necessary infrastructure for a full-cycle municipal waste management system. As a result, the system ensures waste collection and removal, but its capacity to recycle waste and reduce landfill volumes remains limited.
The city lacks complete and reliable data on the volumes of waste collection, recycling, and landfill disposal, and the equipment purchased for 13.6 million hryvnias to track and weigh waste is not even being used.
The audit also found that, of three interrelated infrastructure projects, only the municipal composting plant is operational. The mechanical-biological complex for the transfer and processing of solid municipal waste and the landfill are still not operational.
Furthermore, the composting plant’s production capacity is utilized at only 27%, which accounts for the processing of less than 5% of the city’s total waste volume.
Meanwhile, over 24 million euros and nearly 230 million hryvnias have already been spent on the construction of the waste processing plant in Lviv. The city paid an additional 266.3 million hryvnias in interest on the corresponding international loan for the period 2021–2025.
It was expected that this facility, with a capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year, would recover up to 60% of valuable components from the waste and recycle them. Operations were scheduled to begin in 2025. However, in 2026, the client terminated the contract with the contractor due to significant breaches of obligations. As a result, the funds have been spent, but the facility is still not operational.
Since Lviv has been without its own landfill for more than ten years (since the local Hrybovychi landfill was closed), 95% of the city’s waste is transported and disposed of at eight landfills in three other regions of Ukraine.
In 2021 and 2023–2025, the city spent more than half a billion hryvnias solely to compensate transporters for additional transportation costs. In addition, Lviv pays extra to the communities that have granted permission to dispose of waste on their territory.
Based on the audit findings, the Accounting Chamber recommended that the city develop a phased plan for the implementation of waste recycling and disposal facilities, specifying funding levels, implementation timelines, and expected capacities.
Source: Dilo
Read also:
The EU will transfer €3.3 billion to Ukraine for missiles and drones — Anadolu Agency.
Ukraine may receive about 20 billion euros from the EU defense fund.
As a reminder, Zelenskyy presented Ursula von der Leyen with Ukraine’s first European order.
