Since the Association Agreement has been signed with the European Union, Ukraine has taken important steps towards achieving its commitments and implementing new sets of laws, compliant with the EU Directives. Thus, in 2019, Ukraine adopted the National Waste Management Strategy until 2030.
At the same time, the self-sustaining amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs), which have been launched in 2014 within the decentralised reforms, are now part of the National Strategy and should support the development of effective waste management systems. These systems, too, must be based on the EU standards and circular economy approaches, and embed the appropriate knowledge and skills in the waste management sector.
To support these national efforts, the EU4Environment Action will pilot industrial waste mapping in two regions to help Ukrainian municipalities and ATCs. This will enable two selected municipalities to systematize data on industrial waste generation (a priority for industries), transportation, and utilization of waste to develop measures for improving these processes. As a result, the waste management plans of the registered municipalities will be more inclusive. The activities are scheduled to be launched in winter 2020 and will be led by international experts with hands-on experience in industrial waste mapping.
The national RECP center also initiated a call for municipalities to express their interest in becoming a pilot site for industrial waste mapping. This initiative was promoted during a number of events within the UNIDO Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme, and through various meetings and online platforms. Upon its launch, the call collected over 17 applications within 14 days, with candidates ranging from across all interested municipalities which host over 450 industrial enterprises.