UKRPEС’s initiative for the separate collection, sorting, and recycling of packaging waste according to the European Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model first launched in 2017 in the city of Vyshhorod. The key goal of the “EcoHromada” pilot project was to test the feasibility of implementing the best European waste management practices in Ukrainian conditions. This specifically involved refining mechanisms for interaction among all participants in the EPR model, determining the necessary level of financing, analyzing the effectiveness of communication with the public, and studying the morphological composition of waste.

It can now be stated that the chosen approaches and methodologies have proven effective. 2024 was truly a “breakthrough” year for the pilot project. The initiative expanded to the Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and Kotsiubynske territorial communities of the Kyiv region.

The monthly volume of collected packaging waste nearly doubled: from 67 tons in January 2024 to 126 tons in January 2025.
In total, 1,084 tons of packaging waste were collected within the project in 2024. The separate collection and sorting infrastructure currently covers over 200,000 residents in the Kyiv region communities. This was achieved, in part, by installing over a thousand special containers, each with a volume of 2.5 m³.

The collected waste undergoes further sorting at the sorting station in Bucha. It is separated into 13 fractions: glass cullet, three types of waste paper, aluminum, tinplate, PET bottles, mixed film, containers from detergents, foam plastic, etc. Subsequently, the valuable materials are sent to recycling enterprises. Thanks to the pilot project, they do not end up in landfills but are returned to economic circulation, contributing to the preservation of natural resources.

Furthermore, over the past year, UKRPEС worked on further improving logistics (routes, collection schedules, etc.) and deepened interaction with local authorities and contractors, including the Coalition signing agreements with another transport operator and a processing enterprise.

“The ‘EcoHromada’ pilot project demonstrates that European approaches to packaging waste management, and first and foremost the EPR principle, can work effectively in Ukraine, changing the ecological culture of society. Using the example of specific communities in the Kyiv region, UKRPEС has implemented a holistic model that can soon become the basis for a nationwide packaging waste management system,” – emphasizes Volodymyr Slabyi, Head of the Executive Committee of the Ukrainian Packaging and Ecological Coalition.