Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources: We continue cooperation in the field of waste management and elaborate the Joint Lending Mechanism between Ukraine and Japan

Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets met with Hideki Matsunaga, Head of the Ukrainian Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The meeting was a follow-up to the dialogue launched a few weeks ago in Tokyo. In February, Ukraine and JICA signed a Memorandum of Cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on the sidelines of the Economic Development and Reconstruction Conference. A step-by-step action plan for its practical implementation has now been discussed.

The meeting's participants also touched upon the topic of waste management. Japan's practices are among the most advanced in the world. Japanese technologies for separate household waste collection are interesting for Ukraine in the context of the reform, which is gaining momentum after the adoption of the framework law.

"Ukraine needs 207 new modern plants to solve its waste problems. When analysing the situation, we used the principles laid down by JICA. First of all, we took the cluster model of territorial division as a basis and determined which clusters we could unite. In fact, when creating our local waste management model, we combined the Japanese experience with the European one," said Ruslan Strilets.

The countries also share the problem of demolition waste. The Minister noted, Japan's experience in dealing with this issue after numerous natural disasters could be of great help to Ukraine. After all, our country already has more than 600,000 tonnes of destruction waste as a result of hostilities. Japan has provided Ukraine with about 30 units of specialised equipment as part of the Emergency Recovery and Reconstruction Project for Ukraine. The Minister discussed with Matsunaga Hideki a number of issues related to the use of equipment for separating hazardous waste and its further disposal by specialised enterprises.

"I am grateful to the Ukrainian JICA Office for the prompt development of the negotiation process. Japan is a reliable partner of Ukraine in the fight against russian armed aggression and its consequences. Cooperation with Japan is also extremely important for Ukraine's green recovery. Therefore, we are interested in developing joint projects. Investing in Ukraine is promising for both our country and international partners," said Ruslan Strilets.