It’s not easy living green

by Olga Khrustaleva at 14/06/2012

The Moscow News

Despite a Soviet tradition of sorting and recycling garbage, a modern system has yet to take root in Moscow or in Russia generally.

More than 5 million tons of trash is produced in Moscow annually, most of which is taken to landfills and incinerators, with only a very small part being recycled.

“The problem is not how to recycle,” said Alexei Kiselyov, head of Greenpeace Russia’s toxic waste program. “It is possible to recycle everything. The problem is to collect the waste separately.”

As with so many situations in Moscow, bureaucracy gets in the way, Kiselyov told The Moscow News.

“If you would like to put out a container for the separate collection of garbage, not only will nobody help you or thank you, but you’ll face various government agencies coordinating it until you die,” Kiselyov said.

A blame war

While officials often allege popular indifference as the reason behind a failure for recycling to catch on, residents say they are discouraged when they see a single collection even when there are separate containers for garbage and recycled material.

“Now it’s cheaper for companies to bring trash to a landfill than to a sorting facility, but it should be vice versa, so they can benefit from it,” said Alexander Barsukov, vice president for environmental preservation at packaging firm Tetra Pak.

“Five years ago, we didn’t speak about recycling at all as there were no facilities,” he said. “The package itself was considered to be difficult material [for recycling], as it is composite, consisting of cardboard, polymers and foil.”

Now there are seven companies around Moscow that take packaging for recycling.

Enterprising recycling

This Primorsky region ‘palace’ was made from recycled building material

While in Europe, recycling is a state-funded business, with governments paying both sorters who collect the material and recyclers who re-use it, recycling can be profitable as an enterprise, Barsukov said, but all details should be carefully calculated. It is important where and for what price a firm buys material, the quality of the material, the equipment it uses, and the final result: selling the material itself, or selling a product made of it.

“If you consider all these elements, such production [using recycled materials] can be profitable,” he said. “This is our task.”

Once separate collections of garbage and materials for recycling are established in residential areas, it is important that everything go to sorting facilities, Barsukov said. They will then be able to sell the materials to recyclers at market prices.

Eco-initiative

Not waiting for the government’s help, activists in Moscow and St. Petersburg have established several organizations promoting eco-friendliness, educating people about green living and recycling. One of then is Sfera Ekologii (Sphere of Ecology), which has three locations in Moscow where people can bring glass, plastic, paper and hazardous waste (e.g. batteries, thermometers, electronics and household chemicals).

In St. Petersburg, cars with “eco mobile” signs collect sorted garbage from residents, with the support of local authorities. The cars move through the city during the day and have a schedule posted online.

In the business world, Tetra Pak created a partnership with BMW, which urged people to bring packaging to mobile receiving stations for recycling. Plans for the future include working closely with Moscow universities to promote green living and encourage separate garbage collections on campuses.

“We should begin with something that will inspire people to participate in recycling projects,” Barsukov said.

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