Ukraine needs to approve standards for recycling construction waste resulting from military operations and develop recipes for processing various materials, said Konstantin Saliy, president of the All-Ukrainian Union of Construction Materials Producers (VSPB).
“The lack of state standards for the recycling and processing of construction materials – demolition waste – is the biggest obstacle to development. According to EU standards, this construction waste should not create landfills on the outskirts of our cities, but should be recycled. But the problem is that the government has not even raised this issue publicly in two years. We, the unions and associations, are raising it, and we hope that there will be a donor structure that will help Ukraine with a grant, and we will be able to conduct a scientific study on the development of recipes for processing various types of waste,” Saliy said at the round table “Building Materials. Preparedness for Market Needs for Recovery” at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
He reminded that, according to preliminary estimates, Ukraine has 100 million cubic meters of waste due to military destruction, but this figure does not cover waste in the temporarily occupied territories affected by the Russian invasion.
According to the expert, the cost of the initial study of formulations for recycling construction waste is estimated at $200 thousand, and the construction of a laboratory – $3-5 million.
“The issue of building materials recycling is very interesting because Europe did not experience such destruction after 1945, and the materials were completely different. In addition, not all materials can be recycled – objects hit by some missiles become toxic. A lot of research needs to be done, and it is difficult to do it with just one laboratory. It is necessary to have a full laboratory for toxicology, sanitary tests, and fire loads,” explained the president of the VSPU.
