Russia is advancing projects for waste-to-energy plants after a reform on waste management regulations.

“Garbage will never end. It is just like the forest, the wind, and the sun,” the Russian Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology, and Transport, Sergei Ivanov, noted at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June. „Russia needs hundreds of incineration plants to generate clean energy since waste will never run out,“ Ivanov added.

Five such plants are currently under construction, another 25 waste-to-energy plants are planned. Russia hasn’t unlike China, pledged zero-emission goals and natural gas will remain the leading energy source by 2050, according to BP’s latest Energy Outlook.  Russia launched the reform of waste management in 2019. It aims to reduce illegal dumps and significantly reduce the volume of waste disposed of at landfills. By 2024 the country expects to build 220 new modern plants for the processing, storing, and disposing of waste. New national targets set the bar high for a waste management system by 2030. It is planned to send 100% of household waste for sorting, only 50% will be sent to dumps.