Statement by Mr. Sergiy Kyslytsya on “The Role of Zero Waste as a Transformative Solution in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”

Madame Vice President, distinguished Secretary-General, members of the General Assembly,

Let me warmly welcome H.E. Ms. Emine Erdoğan, First Lady of the Republic of Türkiye, to this hall and thank her, as well as the other speakers, for their remarks.

I would like to thank the Republic of Türkiye for promoting the initiative on “The Role of Zero Waste” in the UN and convening this important event.

As is rightly pointed out in the Concept note, waste generation and the associated pollution threaten the global environment and human health. This constitutes a great challenge for achieving the Agenda 2030. Solving the problem of waste should be considered one of today’s urgent tasks.

In the conditions of the Russian aggression, Ukraine continues making efforts to implement tasks related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, including waste management issues.

To date, Ukraine has successfully overcome a part of the path to reform this sphere.

On June 20, 2022, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Law "On Waste Management" - a fundamental act of national legislation which introduced effective mechanisms of waste management both at the stage of its generation and reuse, and at the stage of collection, processing and disposal.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine developed a draft of the Law of Ukraine "On Packaging and Packaging Waste" aimed at creating a system of separate collection and integrated processing of packaging waste in Ukraine.

“Zero Waste Alliance” was also created in Ukraine, and it unites organizations and activists from different regions of Ukraine working on solving the waste problem in my country. The main goal of the union is to promote the reform of the waste and resource management system in Ukraine. “Zero Waste Alliance” includes organizations from Lviv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lutsk, Kherson, etc. Various projects are being implemented in Ukrainian cities to reduce the amount of waste generated.

In conclusion, let me reiterate Ukraine’s full support for international, regional and national efforts aimed at improving waste management, promoting sustainable and environmentally sound practices through resource efficiency and responsible production and consumption of products in a closed, circular system.

Ukraine is willing to cooperate with other states and stakeholders in this important area.

Thank you.