On the progress of the implementation of the Strategy for the management of production and consumption waste in the Republic of Belarus

On August 18, 2025, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus adopted Resolution No. 444, approving the Strategy for the Management of Production and Consumption Waste in the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – the Strategy).

The goal of the Strategy is: to form a comprehensive waste management system aimed at achieving a waste utilization rate of at least 90 percent by 2040.

By 2030, it is planned to achieve a utilization rate of production waste (excluding large-tonnage waste) of 90 percent, and a utilization rate of municipal solid waste (hereinafter – MSW) of 70 percent.

Main objectives of the Strategy: to assess the current situation, including implemented state policy measures in the field of waste management, legal, organizational and management aspects, and existing problems in this area; to define the main directions for the development of the waste management system; to improve the separate waste collection system; to identify measures aimed at preventing waste generation; to increase the recovery rate of secondary material resources (hereinafter – SMR) from waste and maximize waste utilization.

In the Vitebsk region, interim results on the progress of the Strategy's implementation for 2025 have been summarized.

Key performance indicators for waste management: overall for 5 years in the Vitebsk region, the target indicator for the collection (procurement) of SMR in the amount of 519.5 thousand tons has been met (with a target of 518.7 thousand tons); the utilization rate of MSW was 50.5 percent, with an increase in the indicator compared to the 2020 level by 21.4 percentage points; the utilization rate of production waste in the region in 2024 was 90.5 percent (generated – 913.69 thousand tons, utilized – 826.76 thousand tons).

Update and modernization of the material and technical base: the fleet of garbage trucks has been updated by 39 units; in 2025, 5455 containers for the collection of MSW and SMR were purchased, including 3849 units with a volume of 120 (240) liters for equipping the container fleet in the individual housing sector of settlements, including rural settlements; the fulfillment of the tasks set for 2025 for the construction (repair) of 575 container sites has been ensured, with a target of 455 (126 percent).

Improvement of the MSW management system: as of January 1, 2026, 44 thousand units of containers for separate SMR collection have been installed in the region; in 2025, a post-sorting facility for MSW was equipped on the territory of the MSW landfill in the urban-type settlement of Begoml, Dokshitsky district;

In 2025, the "Novopolotsk Regional MSW Management Complex" was commissioned. The facility's capacity is up to 80 thousand tons, considering waste intake from the cities of Polotsk and Novopolotsk, and the Polotsk, Rossony, and Ushachy districts.

The facility's technological capabilities include: phased semi-automatic sorting of mixed MSW with a capacity of at least 80 thousand tons per year; composting of "green" waste to produce soil for green construction – up to 4 thousand tons per year; composting of fine fraction to produce technical soil – up to 36 thousand tons per year; processing of heavily contaminated polymer waste – 500 tons per year; processing of construction waste – 10 thousand tons per year; thermal destruction of biological and medical waste – up to 700 tons per year; waste for pre-RDF production – 31.7 thousand tons per year.

Measures for the implementation of the Strategy's directions are reflected in the State Program "Ecology" for 2026-2030, in the subprogram "Target 99". The subprogram's goal is to reduce the volume of landfilled MSW, achieving a recycling rate of at least 70 percent by 2030.

In 2026, the target for MSW recycling rate is set at 54 percent, and for production waste recycling rate – 90 percent.

Work to improve the waste management system, as stipulated in the Strategy, will continue in the region.