Invincible! Ukraine and Ukrainians are definitely heroes of our century. But did you know that even during the war recycling and sorting infrastructure is working? Furthermore, it helps to supply such precious materials as metal cans – to create candles to heat front-line defenders, textiles – to make camouflage, and even electronic cigarette accumulators – for drones upgrade. Recycling is an important part of travel, daily life, and even during the war.

The official average recycling rate in Ukraine is quite low: 4,6% in 2020 (4,1% in 2019). At the same time, recycling infrastructure is quite high level. TOP3 cities eco/recycling friendly: Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa. Fines for those who fail to sort their trash are absent.

• No Waste Ukraine: The most advanced recycling station in Ukraine. More than 30 types of waste are accepted here.
• Ecola: Most popular types of waste are accepted here (but not all).
• Government recycling stations: find the nearest on Google Maps. Only a few types of waste are accepted here: paper, metal, glass, and several types of plastic.

Rare waste types accepted in Ukraine: broken umbrellas and glasses, toothbrushes, wine corks, empty bottles of perfume and nail polish, soft plastic packages and packets, spray (pulverizer) – all these accepted in NoWasteUkraine Recycling Station (Kyiv, Saperno-SLobodskaya str., 25).

Colored bins for sorting glass paper and plastic are usually installed near houses* (esp. in big new residential areas), in the city center and big shops (Silpo, ATB, Novus, Metro), and shopping malls (Gulliver, RiverMall, OceanPlaza).

*It is allowed to use bins near houses in residential areas, even if you don’t live in this house (unlike Europe countries’ usual rules).

You can also bring your recyclables to recycling stations. For example, to No Waste Ukraine in Kyiv.

Quite rarely you could find bins for the metal in the city. Usually, you could use a glass or plastic bins or (which is a safer option) bring it to the nearest recycling station.

Special bins in big shops (Silpo, ATB, Novus, Metro), shopping malls (Gulliver, RiverMall, OceanPlaza), gas stations (WOG, ОККО, Klo), and electronic stores (Allo, Citrus, Foxtrot, Eldorado). The “Batareiky Zdavaites” project website will help you to find the nearest point where you could safely bring your batteries, accumulator, and power banks.

No Waste Ukraine recycling station accepts e-waste (old broken mobile phones, laptops, etc.). Old mobile phones and similar things are accepted in trade-in programs in dedicated stores (ALLO.UA, STYLUS.UA, Samsung stores, etc.).

Dedicated bins for clothes and shoes are often installed near houses (esp. in big new residential areas). You could also bring it to charity and/or second-hand shops such as LaskaStore or Kengurush.

No centralized government composting initiatives. Recycling station No Waste Ukraine before the war had an organic composting program (now it’s temporarily closed). Plan B for true-recycling lovers (applicable for long-term stay: a few months or more): buy composting bin for organic composting (bokashi-bin you could find in Ozero.me), shovel and compost in the backyard.”

Other (or non-recyclable) types of waste can be thrown out to (usually) grey bins or you can bring it to recycling stations No Waste Ukraine or Ecola for a paid high-temperature burning.