May 17, 2021

Waste Not, Unless You Want to Support Russia's Disposal Services


Waste Not, Unless You Want to Support Russia's Disposal Services
What rubbish! Photo by Muhammad Numan on Unsplash

On behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, Russian Environmental Operator has allocated about R1.1 billion (approximately $14,844,240) to modernize the Russian Federation’s garbage equipment by the end of 2021.

Shedders, garbage pressers, screens, bag breakers… all of these require moolah. Especially if, as in Russia, these technologies are privately owned. The government justified the expenditures to remunerate companies for leasing their equipment for sorting and recycling waste.

The budget, however, will compensate for only 25 percent of the debt owed to these companies. Other subsidies will also be granted to invest in new garbage containers, trucks, and recycling kiosks. The move is in part a bid to transition to more environmentally friendly waste disposal methods, particularly in the Russian provinces.

Denis Butsayev, head of Russian Environmental Operator, announced that the project will culminate in an integrated waste system, with 100 percent of garbage sorted and a 50 percent reduction of the waste that is sent to landfills.

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Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
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The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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