Recycling hasn't quite taken off yet in Ukraine!

Photo of rubbish collection point, Lviv, Ukraine.

I remember, maybe 25 years ago, visiting Germany where there were 3 or 4 bins in any kitchen used to recycle different products like glass, plastic, paper and food waste.

Currently, in Ukraine, there are central rubbish collection points (like in the photo). In the past year they have introduces one bin for plastics which is a step in the right direction.

Oftentimes, poor people scavenge the bins for beer and vodka bottles to sell back to the breweries which will get then a couple of pence for each. I guess that is quite a green way to go and gives some people an income, if somewhat limited.

I leave my bottles by the side of the bins to make their efforts that much easier.

The waste gets taken to a rubbish dump a few miles outside the city of Lviv and has been building into a waste mountain for the last few years. This summer, the site caught fire and 6 firefighters sadly lost their lives in an attempt to contain the situation.

Ukraine is a big country where land is cheap. This reduces the incentive to invest in recycling plants. As Ukraine develops, more and more people are producing more waste year on year. The problem is likely to become much worse before people realise that money will, eventually, need to be invested into the problem.

I recently read an article saying that Scandinavian countries are able to recycle over 95% of their household waste and even import waste from other European countries to reprocess. The technology is, clearly, available, it just requires the investment.