MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. The Russian waste management legislation must contain chapters on waste processing in the Arctic, Associate Professor at the Public Administration and Public Policy Department of the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA), and coordinator of the Center for Development of the Arctic (PORA) Alexander Vorotnikov told TASS.
"The legislation on waste management must be amended with "Arctic" chapters and items," he said. "Respective amendments must be done to the Russian Federation's Strategy for Development of the Arctic Zone and National Security to 2035."
The Arctic regions have gained great experience in waste management, he said, adding the local authorities need additional options to develop the system in the Arctic.
The regions need to be allowed experimental projects in waste management. For example, in modern approaches to sorting, storage and processing, he said.
Waste management in the Arctic is impossible without active cooperation with businesses working in the region. "Facilities of those companies to process industrial waste must be used to process household waste from hard-to-reach settlements," the expert said. "The companies will be interested in this approach, since this way they will have higher ESG ratings."
Waste management reform
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said earlier results of the reform will be seen in three years.
The reform started from January 1, 2019. By 2024, the country will build 220 new modern complexes for waste processing, placement and disposal under the Ecology national project. By 2030, 100% of household waste will be sorted, and only 50% will be sent to landfills.
Clean Arctic is a large-scale project to clean the Arctic territory from the waste, accumulated since the Soviet times. Captain of the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered Arctic class icebreaker Dmitry Lobusov and Gennady Antokhin, Captain on FESCO’s ships from 1982 to 2012, are the project’s authors. Clean Arctic has developed into a platform, which unites public and volunteer organizations, scientists, officials and businesses. The project’s partners are Norilsk Nickel, Rosatom, PhosAgro, and RZD.