Introducing environmentally friendly industrial parks in Belarus

The National RECP Centre in Belarus has recently completed its assessment on the industrial site No.4 of the free economic zone (FEZ) “Mogilev” and elaborated the list of priority corrective actions to assist its transition towards an eco-industrial park (EIP). This was done as a part of the EU4Environment Project to introduce eco-industrial parks using the International EIP Framework. The territory of the FEZ “Mogilev”, consisting of 18 industrial sites with a total area of 3 339.4 hectares, has an industrial production structure dominated by chemical and woodworking industries.

Currently, the six free economic zones established in the Republic of Belarus comprise over 420 enterprises with around 137.000 employees. The revenue gathered from the sale of goods and services by these enterprises amounted over 7.7 billion € in 2019, of which 7 billion € (91%) belonged to the industrial sector.

FEZs are the most suitable object for the introduction of eco-industrial parks in Belarus. They have a park management entity (Administration of FEZ), separate production sites (plots), master plans, as well as a monitoring system. To become an eco-industrial park, an entity must expand the monitoring system of the resident activities in terms of environmental performance, and to develop a plan for climate change mitigation and adaptation. A plan for water-saving, and certification for the environmental and energy management systems at the park level should also be done. According to the overview of the EIPs, the current compliance of the FEZ in Belarus with the EIP prerequisites is at 50%, and the economic performance is at the level of 75%. The park management performance is at 67%, and the social and environmental performances, at 50%, and, 16,7% respectively.

In September-October 2020, a series of working meetings were held with the Administration of the FEZ “Minsk”, a territory that unites 23 plots over a total area of 2 791.45 hectares. Following the discussions’ results and the preliminary assessment, the most suitable site for the creation of an eco-industrial park was determined – the site №10 with an area of 604.4 hectares and 13 resident enterprises. The performance of the industrial site No. 10 will be assessed against the International EIP Framework. This will be followed by a series of online workshops for resident enterprises, the development of a corrective action plan to guide the greener decision-making of the FEZ management, as well as other related activities.

Published on October 28, 2020

Newsletter

Keep up to date with our latest news, reports and analysis by subscribing to our monthly newsletter.

Subscribe