No money in the budget: Mykolaiv does not know what to do with the closed area for fallen leaves

An overgrowth of fallen leaves. Photo: MYKOLAIV CITY STATE ADMINISTRATION

Mykolaiv's Department of Housing and Communal Services is deciding what to do with the closed fallen leaves storage site, as there is currently no money in the budget for maintenance and development of a reclamation project.

This is stated in the response of the Department of Housing and Communal Services to an information request NikVesti.

The site for the storage of fallen leaves is located in a clay quarry near the city cemetery near the village of Mishkovo-Pohorilove in Inhulskyi district. It had been in operation for 11 years and was closed in December last year by a decision of the executive committee.

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According to the Department of Housing and Communal Services, over the years, 857,916.0 m3 of leaves were taken there out of the 900,000.00 m3 envisaged by the project.

Although the site has been officially closed, the Department of Housing and Communal Services does not yet know what to do with it. They appealed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Ministry of Community Development to explain the next steps in closing the site to the utility companies. But they were referred to the State Environmental Inspectorate.

«"In response, we received recommendations to contact the State Environmental Inspectorate to conduct an unscheduled state supervision (control) measure to determine the correctness of actions to close the site», the document says.

In addition, the site needs to be bunded (earthen berms to protect the area, — note), greenery planted, a fence installed, and a reclamation project developed. All these measures were included in the Programme for Reform and Development of Housing and Communal Services in Mykolaiv for 2025-2029. However, the city's budget for 2025 does not include money for these measures.

There are also no projects to recycle fallen leaves in Mykolaiv. According to the Department of Housing and Communal Services, the city has only four composters in one of the parks.

«At the beginning of 2022, the Municipal Utility Company «and the Mykolaiv Development Agency» implemented a pilot project to install four composters in the park-monument of landscape art to recycle fallen leaves, grass clippings, and organic waste into vermicompost», they added.

It should be noted that in different cities of Ukraine there is already a practice of using fallen leaves. For example, in Lviv, leaves are used to produce biogas, which is then used as an environmentally friendly form of energy. In May 2022,a biogas power plant was launched at the Hrybovychi landfill, which pumps out gas and converts it into electricity.

A biogas power plant was launched at the Gribovitske landfill. Photo: Lviv Regional State Administration

A biogas power plant was launched at the Hrybovychi landfill. Photo: Lviv Regional Environmental Agency

Meanwhile, in Kyiv, since 2021, fallen leaves have been processed into vermicompost using special worms. Leaves are processed in several stages: storage, solution treatment, fermentation, and then processing into humus.

In Kyiv region, they started processing leaves with the help of red worms. Photo: KYIV CITY STATE ADMINISTRATION

Leaves are being processed with the help of red worms in Kyiv Oblast. Photo: KYIV CITY STATE ADMINISTRATION

In Poltava and Rivne, fallen leaves are used in cemeteries. They are used to insulate the ground in the cemetery so that it is easier to dig a hole in winter when the ground freezes.

We remind you that leaves should not be burned. Read about the main consequences of burning leaves and environmentally friendly alternatives in NikVesti article «Why you shouldn't burn leaves and how it harms your health: we explain».