Russian Ecological Operator

The Russian President’s Decree No. 8 from January 14, 2019 establishes the Russian Ecological Operator, a public nonprofit entity for creation of a comprehensive municipal solid waste management system.

The company is established under the National Project Ecology, and is to provide compliance with municipal solid waste (MSW) management legislation and activation of investment initiatives.

The company will get the right to buy land for construction of MSW recycling facilities, and buy buildings, structures, special machinery and equipment for waste treatment and recycling.

The national operator will work alongside with regional operators, and it will distribute environmental fees among the regions for funding of waste recycling and disposal projects.

69 regions have switched over to the new MSW treatment system since January 1, 2019. Federal cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol – will transfer to the new system in 2022. 13 regions are not ready for the MSW management reforms yet, due to their landfills’ unfitness and lack of regional operators. A number of regions, such as the Moscow region, Novosibirsk region, Belgorod region, Murmansk region, Samara region, the Republic of Adygea, the Chechen Republic and the Stavropol territory, are to switch to new waste management principles in the first half of 2019.

According to the Information and Analytical system Globas there are over 19,000 active waste treatment, disposal and recycling companies in Russia at the moment. A subscription to Globas provides an opportunity to explore information about them and their business activity.