Nowadays, Russian waste management policies demand the closure and elimination of dumpsites and landfills historically located in the vicinity of populated areas, with no reference to geological and hydrological conditions. Landfill mining is one of the technical solutions for old dumpsite reclamation. The unique feature of this study is the application of an integrated scenario approach in the evaluation of landfill mining projects. This approach is based on a scenario matrix that compares costs and revenues for each scenario, depending on resource and technological capabilities on the one hand, and prevailing economic conditions on the other. It was revealed that for large dumpsites the cost of landfill mining project with waste excavation and redisposal, using landfill soil material, and the recovery of secondary raw materials is several times higher than the cost of baseline dumpsite reclamation. This study shows that implementation of landfill mining projects is feasible for relatively small dumpsites with a low object base area load. The age of a landfill, among the other parameters, has an impact on the economic efficiency of landfill mining project. According to the study the older the landfill is, the higher the content of landfill soil and the lower the amount of secondary raw materials available. As a result, the efficiency and cost of sorting technologies for soil material and secondary raw materials are key factors that determine the economic feasibility of landfill mining during waste disposal site reclamation. Within each scenario, the factors that most influence the total cost are identified.
One of the main tasks of the circular economy is the decoupling between economic growth and natural resource consumption at the input and the volume of generated waste at the output. The effectiveness of this process can be assessed by the dynamics of the eco-intensity indicators at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels. The article presents the assessment results of the decoupling and growth color of the mining sector in Russia, which show the dynamics of eco-intensity indicators and may reflect the trend towards a circular economy. For the period 2010–2021, it was revealed that negative expansion decoupling and “Black” growth have been observed in terms of generated waste and atmospheric pollution, strong decoupling and “Green” growth in terms of hydrosphere pollution, weak decoupling and “Brown” growth in terms of electricity consumption, and according to water intake from natural water bodies, expansion coupling and “Black” growth. During the study period, the gross value added (GVA) of the mining industry in Russia in comparable prices increased by 77%, while the industry’s negative impact on the atmosphere increased by 34%; the volume of production and consumption waste generation increased by 131%, and the negative impact on the hydrosphere decreased by 51%. The growth of the environmental and economic efficiency of any system can be achieved by influencing the drivers and barriers to moving towards a circular economy, so it is important to identify the most significant factors of influence for a particular industry, region or country in the current conditions. Using the ordinary least squares (OLS) method, it was revealed that factors reflecting innovative activities of the mining industry have a significant impact on reducing eco-intensity in the field of electricity consumption and water intake from natural water bodies. The significance of these factors’ influence has been confirmed not only at the macro-level, but also at the micro-level.
The article analyzes the dynamics of the economic activity level in Russian industrial regions and its impact on the main environmental elements (water, air and soil) by calculating the decoupling coefficient. In the study a hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out, resulted in the formation of seven regional clusters, five of which had a significant share of the industrial sector in the gross value-added structure. Decoupling coefficients were calculated for 64 constituent entities of the Russian Federation belonging to different types of industrial clusters. The ecological and economic balance assessment of industrial regions growth showed the decoupling effect presence for most of them. The movement towards environmentally sustainable growth is more evident in the regions of the industrially diversified cluster. The analysis of three decoupling coefficients showed that in the vast majority of industrial regions the growth rates of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere and the growth rates of polluted wastewater discharges into surface water change at a lower rate than per capita GRP, which indicates a “green trend” in the region’s economic activity. However, the decoupling coefficient, showing the dynamics ratio of production and consumption waste and GRP per capita, has negative value in 37.5% of regions. The most problematic one in terms of this indicator was the Trade and manufacturing cluster, including 21 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. According to the authors, it may be related to the trade sector of these regions.
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