* Corresponding author: Hanna Skryhan email: skrigan_anna@tut.by Detritus / Volume 03 - 2018 / pages 193-203 https://doi.org/10.31025/2611-4135/2018.13657 © 2018 Cisa Publisher. Open access article under CC BY-NC-ND license WASTE MANAGEMENT IN POST-SOVIET COUNTRIES: HOW FAR FROM THE EU? Hanna Skryhan * ,1 , Irina Shilova 1 , Olga Khandogina 2 , Kateryna Abashyna 2 and Olena Chernikova 2 1 Department of Occupational Health and Human Safety, Belarusian-Russian University, pr. Mira, 43, Mogilev, 212 000 Belarus 2 Department of Environmental Engineering & Management, O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv, Marshala Bazhanova street 17, 61002, Kharkiv, Ukraine 1. INTRODUCTION The issue of municipal solid waste management is an urgent problem of urban management and environmental governance in the countries with different level of social and economic development. Constant growth of consump- tion goes along with an increase of waste generation all over the world. The strategic goals of waste management are becoming recycling, minimization and waste avoid- ance. The main challenge of the environmental governance is municipal solid waste management (MSWM) linked to the quality of waste collection, removing and recycling, as well as the effciency of the institutions for waste manage- ment. The geographical focus of the paper is on post-soviet countries. After the collapse of the Soviet system, every new independent state selected its own way of develop- ment. Dramatic changes were linked not only to the polit- ical and economic sphere, but also to the environmental governance as a whole and waste management in partic- ular. The speed of transformation was quite different in different countries: some of them transformed fast and dramatically (Russia and Ukraine), some of them saved a lot of societ performances of waste management system (Belarus), others had middle speed of transformation (Ka- zakhstan and Moldova), and Georgia has changed the goal of transformation drastically. In present post-soviet coun- tries have different GDP, incomes and economic growth (ta- ble 1). The speed of the transformation, as well as level of ABSTRACT After the collapse of the Soviet system, every new independent state selected its own way of development, own goals and speed of transformation. Dramatic changes were linked not only to the political and economic sphere, but also to environmen- tal governance as a whole and waste management in particular. 25 years later the authors looked at 6 post-soviet countries and analysed the situation in the sector of municipal solid waste management by comparing this with EU member states (some of them have a socialistic past). We used BiPRO approach (BiPRO, 2012) and looked for answers related to the question: how far developed is the current state of waste management in post-soviet countries compared to EU members? Which fac- tors defne the potential effciency of waste management system and its full confor- mity with the situation in “old” EU member states? The overall scores of 6 post-soviet countries range from 2 (Georgia) to 11 (Belarus). The common reasons for these low scores in all mentioned countries are weak waste management policies, and landflling as a main way of waste disposal, the lack of economic instruments for stimulating reducing of waste generation and recycling, as well as underdeveloped infrastructure for waste treatment facilities. Specifc problems for post-soviet coun- tries are, for example, the high share of landflled biodegradable waste, incomplete coverage of waste collection systems, the lack of forecasting of waste quantities and planning of waste management, preserved obsolete soviet approach to tariff policy, statistical accounting and administrative procedures in the sector of waste management. The improvement of waste management systems should aim at the legislative ban on the disposal of municipal solid waste at landflls, the re-establish- ment of a separate waste collection system (disestablished after USSR collapse), the establishment of economic and fnancial mechanisms supporting the waste pro- cessing sector and stimulating the population to reduce waste generation. Article Info: Received: 25 January 2018 Revised: 9 May 2018 Accepted: 20 June 2018 Available online: 9 August 2018 Keywords: Geomorphology Geomorphic design Oil Sands Alberta, Canada Mine reclamation