The problem of obsolete pesticides (OP) in Ukraine is related mainly to the accumulation since the Soviet times the chemical plant protecting agents (CPPA) banned for usage for their intended purpose and those chemical plant protecting agents, which received the status of obsolete (damage of packaging, loss of labeling etc.). Later, as a result of elimination of collective and state farms (kolkhozes and sovkhozes), frequent change of owners, destruction of warehouses, where the obsolete pesticides were kept, the problem of acute risks for health of population and environment from accumulated reserves of obsolete pesticides appeared almost on all the territory of the country because of spreading toxic agents in air, soil and water. These threats are strengthened with unauthorized access to the places of accumulation of obsolete pesticides by local people, who freely enter warehouses of obsolete pesticides, which in most of cases are not protected, and use obsolete pesticides, their packaging, remnants of building materials in their farms.

Since May, 2008 till October, 2010 the UNE NGO «МАМА-86» in cooperation with Millieukontakt International Dutch non-governmental organization, financially supported by MATRA Programme of the Royal Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs implemented the international partnership project «Elimination of Acute Risks of Obsolete Pesticides in Ukraine», which became continuation of the campaign for obsolete pesticides, initiated by the UNE NGO «МАМА-86» in 1999. The project was aimed at preventing risks from OP in Ukraine and reducing acute risks from OP in two districts of Kyiv oblast.

Project objectives

• Supporting the updating, approval and realization of the National Plan of Implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in Ukraine;
• Contributing to solution of the obsolete pesticides problem by means of inventory, identification (as needed), repackaging, taking under guard and preparation for transportation and safe disposal of 100 t of obsolete pesticides from two districts of Kyiv oblast;
• Developing intersectoral cooperation with the Ministry of Environment Protection of Ukraine, its regional branches, local authorities, non-governmental organizations and business on addressing the obsolete pesticides problem in Ukraine.

Project participants and partners

The project was implemented in partnership with Millieukontakt International Dutch non-governmental organization financially supported by MATRA Programme of the Royal Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Project’s pilot part was implemented with involvement of experts from Tauw bv, an independent European consulting and engineering company (the Netherlands), in cooperation with Borodianka and Makariv district state administrations (Kyiv oblast), the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine and the National Centre for Hazardous Waste Management State Enterprise (NCHWM SE).

Project results

Numerous comments have been provided and work has been done to update the second edition of the National Plan of Implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in Ukraine.

As a result of the pilot part of the Project, complete inventory and repackaging of 92,8 t of obsolete pesticides according to the international UN standards has been done in Makariv and Borodianka districts.

The Ukrainian team of “cleaners” has improved its skills of such works at trainings on inventory and repackaging of obsolete pesticides according to the international UN standards.

As a result of lobbying allocation of funds by the UNE NGO «МАМА-86» for safe disposal of repackaged OP, in August of 2010, over 100 t of repackaged OP (tare included) have been withdrawn and safely disposed at a specialized enterprise abroad at the expense of the National Fund for Environment Protection.

Publication of the OP inventory data in Borodianka and Makariv districts of Kyiv oblast, gathered according to the international standards of the UNO, revealed that the general quantity of OPs located in stockpiles and storages all over Ukraine at least twice exceeds the official data.

In the process of implementation of the Project the regional and national information campaigns on safe OP management were held.

The regional information campaign on safe OP management in Borodianka and Makariv districts has allowed the population to be informed on dangers related to OP and methods of protection against them and get information about unknown storages of OP in these districts. With the help of local residents and specialists 13 previously unknown OP locations have been found in Borodianka and Makariv districts, including 6 burial sites with at least 35 t of estimated OP quantity, one site with soil heavily contaminated by OP and 6 unregistered storages, including one with 12,5 t of OP.

The national information campaign has covered about 32 mln people due to publications and stories in national mass media and owing to free-of-charge broadcasting of the Project’s video clip (530 repeats) and video film (55 repeats) by 19 regional TV companies in the oblasts where, according to official data there is more than 500 t of OP.

Due to efforts applied by MAMA-86 UNENGO, 13 OP accumulation sites previously unregistered, have been found in Donetsk oblast, Kirovohrad oblast, Kherson oblast, Chernihiv oblast and Sevastopol city. The data has been transferred to the MEP’s territorial bodies in respective oblasts.

Successful intersectoral cooperation has allowed the Project’s tasks and super-tasks to be implemented in full, recommendations to be formulated to improve the national policy and legislation on OP management and lobbying for such recommendations to be carried out, particularly on general OP inventory prior to repackaging.

The Project’s concluding stage consisted of the first intersectoral scientific and practical conference „Let’s free our land from obsolete pesticides together” organized by the MEP, NCHWM SE and MAMA-86 UNENGO

The Project has enabled concentrating public efforts to make national authorities admit a special priority of the problem of clearing Ukraine from the OP.

As a result of publication of the OP inventory data in Makariv and Borodianka districts of Kyiv oblast, performed in the framework of the Project according to the international UN standards; a continuous dialogue with the Ministry of Environment Protection and implementation of regional- and national-level awareness-raising activities, the work to clear the country’s territory from the OP has become a real № 1 priority among the MEP’s objectives. From 2009 till 2010 at the expense of the National Fund for Environmental Protection about 4,5 thousand t of OP have been repackaged and removed abroad for safe disposal.

Beneficiaries

The Project’s direct beneficiaries — 105 thousand people (population of Borodianka and Makariv districts of Kyiv oblast).