Disposable waste of the population – Newspaper Kommersant No. 142 (7343) dated 08/08/2022

The Ministry of Natural Resources has published drafts of two regulations that fundamentally change approaches to the formation of the basic document in the field of municipal solid waste (MSW) management – the federal scheme and change the rules for determining waste accumulation standards in favor of calculated rather than actual data. This change can consolidate the flourishing practice of settlement standards – within their framework, according to experts, the population overpays for waste removal at least twice, and business – dozens of times.

The draft government decree (published on regulation.ru) on changing the rules for the development, approval and adjustment of the federal scheme for the treatment of MSW is proposed to supplement the information on waste with the word “estimated”, replace “incoming” waste with “planned for receipt” and take into account not “mass” in the system ” waste, but “predicted mass”. In addition, the project proposes to create an interdepartmental commission under the Ministry of Natural Resources, which will correct the federal scheme in terms of linking it to national targets, introducing new objects into the scheme (this ensures that the company becomes part of the market and can also qualify for state support) and the procedure for publishing schemes on the Internet for public access.

The explanatory note to the document says nothing about changing the approach to data collection, which is fundamental. When asked by Kommersant why it is necessary to replace the actual data in the federal scheme with calculated and forecast ones, the Ministry of Natural Resources explained: this is being done to plan the situation in 2024, “understanding how much infrastructure facilities will be loaded in the future and what optimal capacity to create.” “It follows from the draft document that in terms of information on waste generation, it is proposed to replace the actual data with calculated ones,” said Boris Morgunov, director of the Institute of Ecology at the Higher School of Economics.

Recall that the head of the national waste operator PPK REO Denis Butsaev, based on the data of the federal scheme, estimated the required amount of investment in the relevant infrastructure at 500 billion rubles. The Ministry of Natural Resources believes that even after survey work and state expertise, this amount will change insignificantly. The ministry also assures that “they have all the information about the actual volume of waste generation, since the system is staffed by those responsible for waste management: regional operators, operators.”

As Kommersant has repeatedly written, not only market participants, experts (including the ONF), but also the prosecutor’s office have complaints about the quality of the initial data of regional territorial schemes. They are most often based on the estimates of regenerators, which are reflected in the waste accumulation standards, the approach to calculating which is different in the regions. “Regional operators and regional authorities are interested in increasing volumes. The tariff, subsidies to regions and compensation of costs to regional operators from local budgets depend on this. Therefore, all schemes are “sharpened” for the growth of volumes, and not their decrease, as instructed by the president, ”reminds Sodnom Budatarov from the laboratory for the study of the circular economy of the IGSU RANEPA. Experts note that the problem is not only in the lack of analysis of the structure of MSW accumulation in the regions, but also in the fact that even the general statistics of waste generation in Russia are different: Rosprirodnadzor calls the figure of 45 million tons, and the PIC REO – 60 million tons per year.

At the same time, the Ministry of Natural Resources published a draft of new rules for MSW accumulation standards. The explanatory note to the document explains in detail why the current data on waste accumulation are considered irrelevant, offering new calculation methods for determining the standard for MSW accumulation without measurements. This is intended to smooth out “outliers” in data between regions and waste generation sites.

Experts categorically dislike the change in approaches, which, in their opinion, reinforce the existing overestimation of MSW accumulation (and, accordingly, tariffs for their removal). The law makes it possible to pay for waste disposal after the fact, and not according to the standard, but it is extremely difficult for citizens and businesses to overcome the resistance of recyclers. In one of the apartment buildings in Nizhny Novgorod, it is recorded that in reality MSW is generated 35% less, and with separate collection – 50% less than regional standards, Mr. Budatarov points out. “Both documents at the federal level consolidate unfair and corrupt decisions on savings rates and tariffs. In a number of regions – the Perm Territory, the Kurgan Region, the Kostroma Region and others – the MSW accumulation standards were recognized as unreliable and canceled by the courts. In most regions, they are overestimated by two to six times, which allows regional operators, in conjunction with regional tariff commissions, to manipulate the tariff. Because of this, the population overpays for the removal of MSW at least twice, and business – up to 60 times. The conclusions of prosecutorial checks and court decisions confirm these manipulations,” he notes.

Sergey Zavyalov, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Waste Processing Enterprises of the Ural Federal District, believes that the data for the Kursk region from the tables of the Ministry of Natural Resources overestimate the calculated standard by about 4.5 times. “The presented version of the NLA is trying to legitimize illegal regulations. The issue of tariffs would be solved simply if the regions kept records in real time, that is, the digitalization of the MSW circulation industry. Most likely, we will see attempts to sabotage it by all available means. 200 billion rubles annual turnover of the industry is a high stake for such attempts,” he said.

Recall that the federal scheme should contain an electronic model, which, in fact, precedes the appearance of the MSW accounting GIS – FSIS UTKO. Both draft regulations are a step towards sabotaging the real accounting of MSW, experts say. Sodnom Budatarov says that “real calculations” can be made using weight control at landfills – by weighing waste containers: “Specialists know that, for example, in the Moscow Region, the weight of waste, including a tank, ranges from 107 kg to 118 kg, which is four times lower than the average. Measurements can be taken in any region. Without this, the digitalization of the MSW sector, the “whitewashing” of the market and an objective understanding of the results of the waste reform – the reduction of landfills – are impossible.”

Alexey Shapovalov