The imposed sanctions may cause «some delays, again related to imported equipment, which Russia was counting on». Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, former Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin shared his opinion in an interview with the "Vedomosti". At the same time, he said that «we are already building modern waste processing plants, for example, in the Tver region».
“Do not rush the garbage reform, otherwise it will stumble. Everything will be fine,” the deputy said.
He expressed confidence that the transition to mandatory separate waste collection by 2030, as planned under the Ecology national project, does not yet fully possess the necessary technical base. “There is still no appropriate infrastructure for processing,” Kobylkin said. “The garbage reform has not gained momentum yet. Now they are slowly starting to build waste processing plants,” he said.
“When everything is built, the operators will say that they need separate waste collection, then it will be possible to turn to the population with a request to sort the garbage,” Kobylkin added.
He called the introduction of fines for non-separate waste collection premature.
Kobylkin said that he would soon be considering a bill on secondary material resources, which would touch upon the topic of processing animal waste. “In fact, this is the production of pure fertilizers. This is a circular economy, to which we have to come,” said the deputy.
“And it doesn’t matter how the waste reform develops, good or bad, each person should be engaged in separate waste collection - at least sorting waste into two packages: with biological waste and solid waste,” Kobylkin said, adding that it is necessary to teach children in kindergartens and schools to separate waste.