Waste utilization market in the regions of Ukraine: current state analysis and main development trends

Abstract

Modern development trends in waste management in the Ukrainian regions indicate the narrowing of the potential for waste processing and consolidation of the practice of their removal both in specially designated places and unauthorized spontaneous landfills. Unlike the EU countries, where the secondary processing of a significant part of the generated waste is carried out, a low level of waste utilization and processing is observed in Ukraine due to the limited development of processing. Despite the declared priority of the waste management problem, a certain improvement of the legal framework, and the implementation of state and regional profile target programs, the total amount of waste accumulated during operation continues to grow. The existing regulatory and legal gaps in waste management in Ukraine do not allow efficient implementation and achievement of the requirements for the functioning of this field declared at the national and regional levels. A change in the conceptual approach of state and local authorities in waste management from the dominance of waste disposal to prevention and reduction of waste generation and expansion of the practice of sorting, recycling, and use of energy and secondary material resources is the key to achieving the positive changes in solving these problems in Ukraine. Within the framework of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, Ukraine undertook obligations related to the harmonization of its legislation in waste and secondary resources management with the EU legislation. These obligations stimulate it to reform this area in accordance with modern norms and standards based on the principles of circular economy and resource and energy conservation. The article establishes that the current state of the waste utilization and processing market in Ukraine depends on the development and support level of entrepreneurial initiatives in this area, as well as the interest of regional authorities and specialized communal organizations in strengthening and expanding their own resource potential. According to the analysis of the waste utilization and processing market in Ukraine, three main groups of barriers that prevent its development are identified. A list of priority profile tasks, the consistent implementation of which will allow overcoming these obstacles and creating favorable conditions to boost the recycling market development in Ukraine in the near future, is proposed.