In this digest, we aim to highlight key aspects of Ukraine’s implementation of Chapter 27 of the EU acquis in the field of environmental protection and climate policy. This is the analysis of regulatory and legal acts aimed at harmonizing national legislation with European standards, and also highlight achievements, current challenges and promising directions for further improvement of Ukraine’s environmental policy in the process of its approximation to European standards.
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “Some issues of monitoring sites of waste generation, storage and disposal“ No. 551 of 13.05.2025
The act was developed in accordance with part two of Article 46 of the Law of Ukraine “On Waste Management” to create a legal mechanism for monitoring sites of waste generation, storage and disposal in accordance with European environmental safety standards, in particular those provided for by:
Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain directives;
Directive 1999/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 26, 1999 on the landfill of waste;
Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 28, 2003 on public access to environmental information;
Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 24, 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control).
As stated in clause 1 of the Resolution, it defines the basic requirements for organizing monitoring of the state of the environment and its components, collecting, processing, analyzing, storing and exchanging information on the state of sites of waste generation, storage and disposal, likely environmental pollution and its components in such sites, interaction of business entities with state authorities and local governments in the process of monitoring sites of waste generation, storage and disposal, as well as developing plans, programs, and recommendations for making effective management decisions in the field of waste management.
Monitoring of sites of waste generation, storage and disposal is carried out by monitoring entities in order to ensure the organization of systematic monitoring of the state of the environment and its components in sites of waste generation, storage and disposal in accordance with environmental and sanitary-epidemiological requirements; collection, processing, analysis, storage and exchange of information on the state of sites of waste generation, storage and disposal, probable environmental pollution and its components in such sites; prevention, timely detection of changes, their assessment, prevention of consequences of adverse impacts on human health and the environment, their elimination; forecasting of changes and development of plans or programs for improvement, preservation and restoration of the state of the environment and its components in sites of waste generation, storage and disposal in accordance with environmental and sanitary-epidemiological requirements. Monitoring of sites of waste generation, storage and disposal is a component of the waste management monitoring subsystem of the state environmental monitoring system.
The Procedure gives the following definition of a monitoring subject: a monitoring subject is a business entity, regardless of its form of ownership, that is a generator or owner of waste, the activities of which lead to generation of hazardous waste, or a business entity that is the owner of non-hazardous waste, including household waste, the annual volume of which exceeds 50 tons, or a local government body.
The monitoring subject shall, once a year, by February 20 of the year following the reporting year, submit an online waste declaration and in this way enter into the waste management information system the data on the volumes and locations of waste generation, as well as on waste storage locations prior to their transfer to waste treatment facilities.
The local government body keeps records of locations of household waste (landfills, waste dumps, unauthorized landfills) or places of generation and temporary storage of other types of waste (hazardous waste, demolition waste), which are located within settlements or outside settlements on municipally owned lands, and enters the relevant data into the online waste management information system.
If we analyze in detail the Procedure for monitoring the sites of waste generation, storage and disposal approved by this Resolution, we can state that it does not define the basic requirements for organizing the monitoring of the state of the environment and its components, as stated in paragraph 1 of the Procedure. The whole essence of monitoring is reduced to submission by business entities of annual reports, which qualifies rather as waste accounting, which is referred to in Article 35 of the Directive, than monitoring.
The establishments or undertakings referred to in Article 23(1), the producers of hazardous waste and the establishments and undertakings which collect or transport hazardous waste on a professional basis, or act as dealers and brokers of hazardous waste, shall keep a chronological record of:
(a) the quantity, nature and origin of such waste, as well as the quantity of products and materials resulting from preparing for re-use, recycling or other recovery operations, and
(b) where applicable, the destination, the frequency of collection, the method of transport and the intended method of waste treatment.
They shall make such data available to the competent authorities through the online register or registers to be established in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article.
It is worth noting that one point of this Resolution still concerns monitoring, namely point 6, which states that if, based on the results of measurements, the established standards for maximum permissible emissions (discharges) of pollutants into the atmosphere or water, or contamination of land and soil are detected, the business entity as the monitoring subject is obliged to take measures to ensure restoration of compliance with the established standards for maximum permissible emissions (discharges) and, no later than one day from the moment such measures are taken, send a written notification of the measures taken to the territorial body of the State Environmental Inspectorate, the relevant local government body, and in the event of exceeding the standards for maximum permissible discharges of pollutants into fishery water bodies (parts thereof), also to the territorial body of the State Fisheries Agency.
However, this Resolution does not provide for an obligation to conduct such measurements, and in no way describes the procedure, frequency, or method of such measurements. Therefore, even if such exceedances are detected, they will not be the result of monitoring sites of waste generation, storage, and disposal but rather an accident or the result of monitoring regulated by other legislative acts, not this Resolution.
According to Article 8a (5) of the Waste Directive, Member States shall establish appropriate monitoring and enforcement frameworks to ensure that producers of products and organisations implementing extended producer responsibility obligations on behalf of producers comply with their extended producer responsibility obligations, including in the case of distance selling, that financial resources are used properly and that all actors involved in the implementation of extended producer responsibility schemes report reliable data. For the purposes of monitoring and verifying compliance with the obligations of the producer of a product relating to extended producer responsibility schemes, Member States may lay down requirements, in particular as regards registration, information provision and reporting, to be fulfilled by a legal or natural person to be designated by an authorised representative on their territory.
The Landfill Directive, in particular in Annex III, but not limited to, sets out requirements for the control and monitoring procedure during the operational and after-care phases. In particular, it provides that the landfill operator shall implement a control and monitoring programme during the operational phase, as defined in Annex III, in particular in the following areas: meteorological data, emission data: water, leachate and gas control, groundwater protection, site topography: landfill body data, special requirements for metallic mercury.
The Industrial Emissions Directive, in particular Article 14, states that Member States ensure that the permit covers at least the following:
(a) emission limit values for polluting substances listed in Annex II, and for other polluting substances, which are likely to be emitted from the installation concerned in significant quantities, having regard to their nature and their potential to transfer pollution from one medium to another;
| (b) | appropriate requirements ensuring protection of the soil and groundwater and measures concerning the monitoring and management of waste generated by the installation; |
( c ) suitable emission monitoring requirements;
| (e) | appropriate requirements for the regular maintenance and surveillance of measures taken to prevent emissions to soil and groundwater pursuant to point (b) and appropriate requirements concerning the periodic monitoring of soil and groundwater in relation to relevant hazardous substances likely to be found on site and having regard to the possibility of soil and groundwater contamination at the site of the installation. |
Monitoring requirements are provided for in a separate Article 16 of the Industrial Emissions Directive, according to which the monitoring requirements specified in Article 14(1)(c), should, where applicable, be based on the monitoring conclusions described in the BAT (Best Available Techniques) conclusions.
The frequency of periodic monitoring specified in Article 14(1)(e), is determined by the competent authority in the permit for each individual facility or in general binding rules.
Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, periodic monitoring shall be carried out at least every 5 years for groundwater and every 10 years for soil, unless such monitoring is based on the principle of systematic assessment of the risk of pollution.
As we can see, the requirements of the Directives on monitoring are aimed at tracking the state of environmental components, such as soil, air, water, and not simply at providing statistical information on the amount of waste generated, processed, or disposed of. Therefore, this Resolution is a formal implementation of the terms of the Association Agreement and does not comply with the European environmental safety standards described in the Directives that the Resolution aims to implement.
In addition, this Resolution enters into force simultaneously with the Law of Ukraine of March 20, 2023.No. 2973-IX“On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the State System of Environmental Monitoring, Information on the State of the Environment (Environmental Information) and Information Support for Environmental Management”, i.e. six months from the date of the abolition or termination of martial law introduced by the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On the Introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine” dated February 24, 2022No. 64/2022, which once again proves its formality and the government’s unwillingness to ensure European standards of environmental safety, in particular in the field of waste management in Ukraine.
Ordinance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “Some issues of ensuring the negotiation process on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union under cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process” No.475-r dated 14/05/2025
In order to fulfill Ukraine’s obligations under the EU acquis, approved by the decision of the Council of the European Union of June 21, 2024, under cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process”, the following was approved:
Roadmap on the rule of law;
Roadmap on public administration reform;
Roadmap for the functioning of democratic institutions;
Action Plan to Protect the Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine;
Ukraine’s negotiating position during negotiations with the EU on the conclusion of the Agreement on Ukraine’s Accession to the EU under cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process.”
This ordinance concerns horizontal reforms, which will also concern the environmental sector, so it would be interesting to familiarize yourself with the Roadmaps and the negotiating position. However, the government decided to classify the negotiating position as a document with limited access, placing a stamp on it for official use. As for the road maps, although such a stamp does not apply to them according to the ordinance, the Road Maps as separate annexes to the order are not released for general public on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, which indicates to the government’s opaque policy on this important for the country and the public European integration issue.
This material was prepared with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «Joining the EU together» initiative. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.
