Sergei Ivanov
Russia has accumulated at least 60 billion tons of waste, said the special representative of the President of Russia on environmental issues, ecology and transport Minister Sergei Ivanov, reports “Interfax”.
“Over the years, not having a garbage disposal, we have accumulated, according to experts, about 60 billion tons of household waste — I’m not talking about construction, industrial, — which, roughly speaking, lying on the ground and already is a very decent area” — said Ivanov.
According to him, since the Soviet Union recycling, in particular waste paper was reduced from 50 to seven per cent. “If we were a very small country, we probably would have sooner thought, because the land would be left, everything would be littered with debris, but we, thank God, the territory is big,” he said.
In December 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged to pay attention to the garbage. “Across the country it is necessary to do cleaning of contaminated areas, eliminate landfills, that have turned the surrounding area settlements,” — said the head of state.