Circular Economy in Russia: Drivers and Barriers for Waste Management Development

Abstract

Russia is just starting to become a circular and green economy. The development of an efficient national waste management system is a prerequisite for the circular economy (CE). Russian companies are already moving toward adopting more circular business models because it is proven to be a sound business strategy. This strategy facilitates access to new markets, drives innovative solutions, and saves production costs. This paper presents a general understanding of the CE concept. Using practical examples, we show how the Russian government and other stakeholders are providing solutions to advance the development of the waste management system. The paper demonstrates political, legal, and institutional changes implemented through waste management practices and reforms. We introduce four stages of evolution of waste management in Russia and discuss the changing roles of stakeholders in a waste management ecosystem. We conduct a case study of the best available techniques of waste management in leading Russian companies to identify the roles existing in waste management systems (WMS), to allocate responsibilities of each role, and to describe three types of corporate strategies of waste management. The paper is based on the analysis of official public documents and official reports of leading Russian companies.

The Circular Model in Disposal with Municipal Waste. A Case Study of Slovakia

“…Challenges have support in modern strategies and tools. Internet of Things could bring more accurate policies and when implementing policies [42], it is necessary to build on new knowledge in industrial reverse logistics, such as synthesized in some works [43][44][45][46]. We designed this model based on the results of the analysis but based on EU objectives and a thorough knowledge of waste management in the Slovak Republic.…”

Big Data-Enabled Solutions Framework to Overcoming the Barriers to Circular Economy Initiatives in Healthcare Sector

“…Poor infrastructure [5,13,24,46,49,51,53,54,56,57] B30 Lack of recycling options in medical supplies [4] B31 Limited IT infrastructure and technologies in medical informatics [25,26,58] Technologies required for CE principle implementations in healthcare can have beneficial effects on the environment, including maximizing efficiency in usage of energy, providing cost-efficient solutions, and the elimination of the natural resource waste. However, the adoption of these technologies, equipment, and solutions requires high-cost investments.…”

“…Similar to CE, monitoring generated waste requires the use of several networks of smart technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) [ 5 , 13 ]. Therefore, Industry 4.0 provides tremendous opportunities for CE, in which products are being remanufactured, reused, and recycled at end-of-life cycles [ 13 ]. Especially, ongoing advancements in the healthcare field, coupled with the rise of big data, have culminated in a rapid and vast expansion of medical data [ 14 ].…”

Role of Waste Collection Efficiency in Providing a Cleaner Rural Environment

“…Eastern Europe is prone to illegal dumping practices because waste collection coverage is not 100%, especially in rural areas, as confirmed in post-soviet countries, such as Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Russia [34]. The lack of a waste-sorting culture, poor infrastructure, and landfill prevalence are additional issues that such countries are facing [35].…”