17 January, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Br500 billion will be allocated for the implementation of environmental projects in Belarus in 2012. This was announced today to journalists by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, Vladimir Tsalko, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. One of the priority areas of the ministry's work this year will be the implementation of projects for the collection and processing of solid municipal waste. "Such projects are already being implemented, and negotiations are underway to create new processing facilities in Bobruisk, Lida, Molodechno, but overall, this work requires improvement and greater attention from officials and public servants," emphasized Vladimir Tsalko. In his opinion, this is due to the fact that not all managers have fully realized the need to actively address this issue. Meanwhile, we are talking about valuable secondary resources: a ton of plastics, for example, is currently worth Br10 million, and $7 million worth of paper raw materials are imported into Belarus annually from Russia and other countries. "At the same time, 40 million tons of waste have accumulated at our landfills, about 4 million tons are added annually, and the processing depth is only about 20%," the minister noted. In order to draw attention to this issue, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection is currently considering ways to stimulate the interest of secondary resource collectors. "We want those who need this waste paper, cullet, plastic, etc., to pay for it, that is, to increase the price of raw materials at the expense of the consumer of this waste," explained Vladimir Tsalko, adding that this issue is being worked on. -0-

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