In Ukraine, waste has become more extensive in volume, but not in weight. It will surprise you: masks and gloves didn't affect the situation as much as we thought
The quarantine introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic in March is still formally ongoing. But the nature of quarantine measures has transformed. Adaptive quarantine and certain restrictions are nothing compared to the first two months of the pandemic when long-distance connections and public transport in cities were suspended and food establishments closed.
It is during this period, from March to May, that not only our daily lives have changed the most but also the amount and composition of garbage that we produce. Zero Waste Lviv NGO in partnership with Ekoltava NGO, Fama Research Agency, and Zero Waste Europe International Union, with the support of the international foundation "Renaissance" and the Swedish Embassy in Ukraine, conducted research and analyzed how quarantine affected waste management.
A study conducted in 4 Ukrainian cities, Lviv, Poltava, Truskavets, and Myrhorod, showed that the expected nature "cleansing" didn't happen in the quarantine. Even despite restaurants and shopping malls closing, waste in cities hasn't decreased significantly. For instance, in Lviv, the amount of garbage in the city center decreased by 60% but increased by 30% in other city districts. The only exception is Myrhorod, where the amount of waste has decreased by 40% because of the sanatoriums closing.
Meanwhile, in the no less resort Truskavets, the total amount of waste remained almost the same. It happened because of the growing amount of waste from the population, and, especially, large and construction waste. We observe the same pattern in other cities where the study was conducted. 2 months of around-the-clock sitting at home forced Ukrainians to review the contents of their homes, carry out overall cleaning and get rid of junk. Usually, people don't have enough time for this.
Therefore, the total mass of waste remained almost the same. When Poltava took out only 6809.6 tons of garbage in March, in April, the figure was 5947.9 tons, in May, it was 6185.4 tons. A similar situation is observed in Lviv: an increase in organic and construction waste from citizens offset the decrease in waste from the tourism and hotel and restaurant sector.
Individual protective gear, which has invaded our lives, has had almost no impact on waste. In the cities where the study was conducted, they created no special infrastructure for their utilization. First, because of such a system's cost and the difficulty of communicating information to people. Second, due to the lack of doctors' recommendations. Local authorities abode by studies showing that the virus survives on the surface of protective masks or gloves for 6 to 72 hours, and couldn't cause significant damage when entering a landfill. Myrhorod became the only city where they centrally collected, processed, and disposed of such waste. But in none of the cities did personal protective gear affect the total waste mass.
But the total volume of garbage during the quarantine increased, although the total mass decreased slightly. Carriers say it's due to an increase in plastic, wrapping, and paper, having low weight, and taking up a lot of space. Since they clean out garbage cans as they are filled, garbage had to be removed more often during the strict quarantine. Interviewed retailers and restaurant business representatives confirm this thesis: "The change in [customers'] behavior has been in security direction. A person still prefers something individually packaged in most cases if he/she sees it. Two or three years ago, we had a trend when people started walking with their reusable coffee cups, or their bags, or their containers. It is very difficult to keep track of it now," a representative of the Lviv restaurant chain says.
The study is interesting not only because it showed changes in the overall waste structure during the pandemic, but also because it showed the prevailing trends and challenges in waste management in the country.
First, although in each of the cities there was an infrastructure for separate waste collection in one form or another, strict quarantine has led to a reduction in the number of recyclables. Recycling points weren't included in the list of business entities that were allowed to work during the quarantine. So only a small part of the population continued to sort and collect waste at home. Only unregistered points continued to operate. Quarantine illustrated the lack of precise regulation and supervision of this field by the state.
Second, the example of only 4 cities shows how different the local authorities' approach was both to the actual introduction of quarantine and to regulating waste. The global pandemic came to Ukraine when there was no legal structure for waste management. At that point, they registered only a law draft in the Verkhovna Rada. Local authorities simply didn't have explicit instructions or even an understanding of what they need to do to respond adequately to the growing amount of waste in such a special situation.
Third, the lack of clear rules and recommendations from both central and local authorities has led to misunderstandings in running retail and catering establishments. When restaurants were banned to serve visitors, delivery services experienced a real boom, resulting in an increase in non-recyclable disposable packaging waste. The requirement to pack vegetables in supermarkets was almost the most controversial, as scientific studies have shown that the virus survives on a plastic surface the longest.
The lack of communication with the population and the retail sector has led to a turnaround in the trend of reducing waste to the opposite urge to buy only what has individual packaging. And while individual restaurants or shops have tried to counter this and encouraged customers to choose reusable or biodegradable tableware, the local or central government has hardly raised this issue. We don't have enough basic data to understand this problem. Cities collect information only about the total mass of waste removed, without examining their morphology. It shows that issues of waste management or other environmental issues are still out of sight of Ukrainian officials of various levels.
After analyzing the data collected, activists have developed several recommendations that will help reduce the amount of residual waste during a pandemic or similar emergency.
They recommend supermarkets, restaurants, and other catering establishments to follow these tips:
They recommend the following steps to local authorities who want to reduce the impact on the environment during quarantine:
As for personal protective gear, both restaurants and local authorities, and each of us can do better for the environment if you follow these tips:
Тут молоді з ментальною інвалідністю допомагають самореалізуватися, відкрити нові таланти та знайти свою спільноту. “Рубрика”… Читати більше
Українським чоловікам призовного віку, які перебувають за кордоном, обмежили доступ до послуг українського консульства. Такі… Читати більше
У Бучі 18-20 квітня 2024 року провели ідеатон Unlock Bucha. Він об’єднав між собою представників… Читати більше
“Рубрика” пояснює, яким може бути інвестування у мистецтво, на яких українських митців слід звернути увагу… Читати більше
Rubryka tells the story of a small but meaningful reconstruction project in Kyiv. A local… Читати більше
Тейпи продовжують набирати популярність. Проте чи така вона заслужена? “Рубрика” вирішила розібратися, що таке тейпи… Читати більше
Цей сайт використовує Cookies.