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Moscow Region's governor moves to promote waste recycling legislation

According to the Moscow Region governor, the legislation needs to contain stringent requirements for landfill infrastructure

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Moscow Regional Governor, Andrei Vorobyov, has issued instructions to draft regional laws that would allow the introduction of separate waste collection in the region.

"We have to pass a number of regional laws, which would make it possible to introduce separate waste collection. Without putting things in order in this sphere, we will not be able to get away from those landfill sites of the mid-20th century," he said at a regional government meeting on Tuesday.

According to Vorobyov, the legislation needs to contain stringent requirements for landfill infrastructure. They should stipulate the filtrate collection systems (environmentally dangerous liquid caused by decaying waste) and landfill gas utilization.

Earlier reports said that the Moscow Region was to switch to separate waste collection in 2019. Its collection will be based on dividing waste into two groups, namely, recyclable [glass, plastic, aluminum and paper] and non-recyclable [food waste and street foliage]. Refuse will be originally sorted into groups by residents themselves, who will dispose of it into containers of two colors - blue ones for recyclable waste and grey ones for non-recyclable waste.

In 2017, 13 municipalities in the Moscow Region launched a pilot program for a separate waste collection system.