On education and the level of utilization of solid municipal waste

Municipal waste is waste generated in residential buildings as a result of human activity, as well as waste from legal entities and individual entrepreneurs that is similar to municipal waste.

The functioning of the waste management system in the Republic of Belarus is based on the principle of prioritizing waste utilization over its neutralization or disposal.

In 2025, more than 472 thousand tons of municipal solid waste (hereinafter referred to as MSW) were generated in the Vitebsk region, and the MSW utilization rate was 51.8 percent.

According to the results of 2024, the MSW utilization rate in the Vitebsk region exceeded the national average (39.6%) and amounted to 43.5%.

By the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated August 18, 2025, No. 444, the Strategy for the Management of Production and Consumption Waste (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy) was approved.

The Strategy is the main document that comprehensively defines the goal and prospects for the development of the waste management system in the Republic of Belarus and is aimed at forming an effective waste management system. The single and global goal of the Strategy is to achieve a waste utilization rate of at least 90% by 2040.

The document provides for the establishment of specific target indicators for the main groups of waste, as well as republican state administration bodies responsible for achieving the target indicators.

By 2030, it is planned to achieve a production waste utilization rate (excluding large-tonnage waste) of 90%, and an MSW utilization rate of 70%; by 2035, it is planned to achieve 90% for both production waste and MSW utilization rates.