In early September, Natalia Khalimon, Kulykiv settlement head, took part in an international study visit to Austria, held with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. Together with other hromada leaders, she learned the way the Europeans address the issue of waste disposal, factors encouraging hromadas to establish joint companies and focused on Austrian experience that can be taken over to improve hromadas’ landscaping in Ukraine.

“We visited one of such private companies – the Brantner Corporation in Krems. Here we saw the Austrian separate waste collection algorithm at work,” says Natalia Khalimon.

In Austria, residents themselves sort garbage at home, and the company usually installs two garbage containers in the yard: one for organic waste, the other for unsorted one. Secondary raw materials are collected separately.

Everything that people managed to sort is going to be recycled. It is about half of all household waste.

The average cost of waste disposal and removal services is EUR 200-250 per household per year, but the final fee depends on the local authorities, who set it, and the citizens themselves. The experience of the Austrian communities in organising treatment facilities’ operation on the Traisen river was interesting and important.

High self-organisation and legal consciousness of community inhabitants are an example to follow. Ukrainian AH leaders note that here the residents do not expect that someone should clean, do something, improve, or organise festivity for someone. The community organizes itself on its own and collectively solves the necessary issues.

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