Modernizing Russia’s waste management industry: the scope of expert analysis

Abstract

Issues concerning waste management in Russia became especially relevant during the 1990’s with the ensuing restructuring of the industrial sector, when certain components of cyclic production and recycling of materials – which were available during Soviet times – simply ceased to exist. For many years there were no appropriate government programs that could combine an economically feasible approach with environmentally oriented technologies. This article presents the results of a study based on expert interviews on the subject of modernizing Russia’s waste management industry throughout the years 2014-2017. The lineup of experts consisted of specialists in various fields: nonprofit organization employees, environmental activists, researchers in the field of humanitarian and natural sciences, businessmen, government officials, professional environmentalists and engineers. The interview carefully examines environmental modernization issues in various fields: legislation, economics, environmentally oriented technologies, where particular emphasis is laid upon resolving social issues and institutional problems with developing this sector. Experts have noticed a positive dynamic in the modernization of the waste management industry during recent years (2010-2017). However, certain omissions are apparent in every area, which must be promptly rectified in order to comply with modern requirements when it comes to stable development and environmental protection. In the field of legal support there is no clear functional allocation of responsibilities among those parties participating in legal interaction. The field of institutional management lacks a chain of stakeholders fit for a waste-free economy. Social policy and labor market structure in the waste management industry are also not fully developed. The project “Clean country”, as well as the functionality of territorial models in the field of waste management in Russia, bears special relevance. Non-profit organizations have offered to assume the role of the main resource, together with the business sector, which is in need of legal and economic support on behalf of the government in the form of well thought-out legislative framework, which would consider the interests of all parties participating in decision-making. As for actions which need to be taken immediately, it is essential to reduce the negative impact of waste on the environment.