The war affected and changed the municipalities of Ukraine. Many Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes, which caused a change in the load on critical infrastructure in most municipalities. Municipal waste management is no exception as it has been affected by the destruction of infrastructure, the arrival of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the economic decline of activity.

According to the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, as of 1 June 2022, 5% of all existing garbage trucks, 17% of all biogas plants, and 9% of sorting lines were destroyed or damaged. The direct losses of the waste management sector amounted to $95,360,000, the estimated cost of removal of construction waste/rubble was $320,700,000, and waste disposal companies lost $11,900,000 in profits. This assessment was conducted only for certain regions of Ukraine, including the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, but it provides an estimate of the overall scale of potential damage across Ukraine.

In view of the importance and relevance of the issue of waste management as well as the lack of practical experience of municipalities in waste management in wartime, the U-LEAD with Europe Programme has prepared informational materials that will be useful to municipalities that host IDPs and/or have suffered destruction as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

These unique materials compile best practices and describe the typical problems and challenges faced by municipalities affected by the destruction: where to start the recovery and how to ensure the sustainability of the waste management system at the local level. Learn more here

Municipalities hosting IDPs should correctly assess the degree of impact of IDPs on the solid waste management system, provide services to places where many IDPs stay and ensure financing of solid waste management services. Learn more here

The U-LEAD with Europe Programme always works closely with municipalities and helps them overcome the negative consequences of the war. So far, 48 municipalities have joined the training course “Steps for Specialists. Waste Management” which will lay the groundwork for developing project ideas in waste management, conducting their own technical and economic justification, preparing and implementing full-fledged projects.