Waste recyclers accuse the Ministry of Economy of opposing the development of the industry

The Ministry of Economy yesterday published a negative opinion as part of the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) on the draft government resolution on environmental tax rates prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The department called the size of these payments unreasonable, and the collection itself was just a new way to fill the budget. This assessment caused indignation among waste recyclers, who expected that they would receive guaranteed volumes of raw materials starting in 2016.

Photo: Maxim Kimerling, Kommersant / buy photo

A negative opinion on ODS on the draft resolution establishing environmental tax rates (a by-law to the basic law on consumer waste, adopted at the end of 2014) was published yesterday on the website of the Ministry of Economy in the form of a comment by the head of the ODS department of the ministry, Vadim Zhivulin. The Ministry rarely publishes conclusions on ODS in this form, but this case is special: manufacturers and importers demanded an assessment of the document developed by the Ministry of Natural Resources (see Kommersant on September 29). Let us explain that now they are faced with a choice: to transfer the levy to the budget to finance the relevant infrastructure in the regions or to spend money on creating sectoral waste management schemes.

In this document, the Ministry of Natural Resources identified 36 groups of goods for which rates are set. “Questions regarding the methodology for determining them, the system for collecting and recycling waste, and ultimately the quality of ensuring environmental safety remain open,” concludes the Ministry of Economy. It believes that if the resolution comes into force, then “businesses will be forced” to pay 30.3 billion rubles to the budget in 2016. Let us note that the same amount, without justification, appeared in the draft budget for 2016. Recycling standards have not yet been established, and the amount of payments can only be calculated based on them. The Ministry of Economy also notes that the cost of disposal includes the costs of creating a waste processing infrastructure. “They are five times higher than operating costs, and for some groups there are already underutilized processing capacities; the construction of new ones is not required,” the department notes.

The waste recyclers interviewed by Kommersant are indignant and accuse the Ministry of Economy of conspiring against the industry, for which they have been preparing for new rules of the game since 2011. They expect that the adoption of documents on fee rates and recycling standards as early as 2016 will force manufacturers and importers to provide them with flows of recyclable materials. “We spent a whole year fighting with manufacturers, whose main task is not to pay for processing. The Ministry of Economy is the main enemy of economic development. The creation of a processing industry means new jobs and additional revenues to the budget,” laments the executive director of the Shinoecology association. Vladimir Maryev. “We are shocked by the results of ODS and do not understand on what basis the industry will be created,” adds Rodion Cherednichenko, head of the Waste Recycling Association.

Manufacturers do not agree with the criticism of recyclers and continue to cite the fact that not even a quarter of the by-laws necessary to launch a new waste management system since 2016 have been issued. “Before making the assessment, meetings were held with the participation of businesses and departments, at which the Ministry of Natural Resources was unable to give clear answers to questions about rates,” says Ekaterina Astafieva from Rusbrand. Lyubov Melanevskaya from RusPEC adds that the association has been negotiating with recyclers about launching pilot waste management schemes, but “none of those we spoke to have come back with specific calculations and proposals.”

Meanwhile, processors are more concerned not so much about the environmental fee rates as about the fate of the draft resolution on recycling standards, which should provide them with raw material flows. The latter, taking into account the comments of the ministries, according to Kommersant, was finalized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, but it was not agreed upon by the Ministry of Economy. Let us recall that in June of this year the government decided to introduce zero recycling standards for all groups of goods until 2019 (except for batteries, tires, paper, mercury lamps and categories for which recycling is carried out). Regarding the latter, which includes plastic and technical oils, recycling standards in Sergei Donskoy’s department were noticeably reduced (from 80% to 20-30%), but the Ministry of Economy insists that they too should be reset. According to Kommersant, the final decision regarding draft resolutions on payment rates and recycling standards should be made by the end of next week by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin.

Alexey Shapovalov

The environmental fee received a failure