Almir Kurbanov about separate garbage collection: “This is not an experiment, we have no other way but to win”

The project on separate garbage collection started in the Aviastroitelny district of Kazan.

(KZN.RU, August 1, Ksenia Shvetsova). Today, the project was launched to introduce a separate collection of garbage in the Aviastroitelny district of Kazan. The citizens began actively acquainting themselves with the garbage sorting rules. First garbage trucks already make double runs. First, they come for recyclable waste, and then for the rest. This project is not an experiment, but the first full step towards a new, more ecological way of life, said Almir Kurbanov, the deputy chairman of the Housing and Communal Services Committee, at the press conference in one of the neighborhood yards.

428 containers were installed in 109 sites with yellow and gray stickers: the first for the collection of recyclable waste, the second for the rest.

Containers intended for various types of garbage were installed in the yard of the house №7 on Aidarov Street a few days before the official start of the project. The lids of containers have special hatches so that the citizens do not have to open them. Some residents of the district are still looking at the ads and clarifying the principle of sorting garbage. Many of them have already mastered the new practice and come to the container site with two different packages. “Somehow, the elderly people quickly adapted themselves to this, they confidently sort the garbage”, said Tatiana Kirsanova, a local resident. “We must strive to this of course. We also began to sort. It's not difficult at all, just unusual. We have two packages: one is plastic, PET bottles, packages fr om eggs. Other wastes are thrown into a separate package. There is no problem in this”.

The project started in the Aviastroitelny district because there are practically no multi-apartment houses with refuse disposer. This is the first requirement for the introduction of separate garbage collection. Almir Kurbanov noted that today there are still quite a few houses with a refuse disposer in Novo-Savinovsky and Prvolzhsky districts, but work on their elimination is already being carried out. According to the speaker, the next district where the project will be implemented will probably be the Sovetsky district.

This project will be implemented for at least six months, after which it will spread to the whole city. A. Kurbanov reminded that the federal law will come into force on January, 1 of the next year. It will oblige the carrier, the regional operator, to collect garbage separately. Such a carrier will be determined in the RT in the near future.

“We do not expect that right now, we will be able to come to a complete separation of garbage. The population has to be prepared for this, it will take a certain amount of time. The West brought itself to it after 30-40 years. But, in our opinion, we should see the first results within 3-4 months. The process has started, in general, the citizens treat this positively”, said A. Kurbanov. “I stress that this is not an experiment, because the experiment is testing whether it will work or not. And we have no other way but to win and solve this issue positively”.

Some citizens who have seen new containers for the first time are interested how to throw out the garbage. They are assisted by representatives of the management company, janitors. Citizens are urged to pay attention to one most important point: all the humid waste must be disposed of in a container with a gray sticker, as moisture damages the quality of garbage, which will later be sorted.

Rustam Galimov, the director of the managing company of the Aviastroitelny district, agrees with the fact that soon the citizens get used to sorting garbage. The MC is responsible for the removal of garbage and for the condition of container sites, and also hangs out individual information stands for explanations on each site. “We are currently working with our staff. The janitors will also tell the citizens how to sort the garbage correctly. We also work with senior management personnel. In general, we explain all the rules to the population every day. The general information background and our work on the field will surely give an effect”, said R. Galimov.

Evgeny Tuz, the head of the carrier company, said that so far, 2 trucks have been allocated for garbage collection. One removes sorted garbage, the other – the rest. E. Tuz explained that today the car that takes garbage from the sites carries it to the garbage transshipment station. There are 5 such stations in Kazan.

The new project is quite expensive. Thus, one container costs 10 thousand rubles, and 428 ones have already been installed. Additional vehicles are required for transportation. The carrier's company also invested in the project about 5 million rubles, according to E. Tuz. “At the same time, it's too early to speak about the project's feedback”, he notes. “It will be if we finally transport waste to the landfill. Then we will reduce the runs of our cars and the flows of unsorted garbage at the station. In the meantime, we believe that we need to support this project, because everyone understands that a huge amount of garbage provokes an increase in landfills, which has a disastrous effect on the environment”.

The portal KZN.RU has a special section dedicated to separate collection of garbage wh ere residents can find the addresses of container sites, see the latest news, download a flyer with information about the project, or pass an express poll.