RMA: The pace of processing demolition waste across the region needs to be stepped up, but the necessary equipment is only available in Mykolaiv

Waste processing plant in Mykolaiv, February 2026, photo by ‘NikVesti’

The waste processing plant in Mykolaiv lacks the equipment needed to increase processing rates and meet the needs of the entire region.

This was stated by Dmytro Mats, deputy head of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, during a briefing, according to NikVesti.

According to him, the only enterprise engaged in processing demolition waste in the region is located in Mykolaiv. Thanks to assistance from international donors, the enterprise has received 24 pieces of equipment.

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Dmytro Mats noted that to date, around 8,000 tonnes of debris have been processed, of which 3,000 tonnes have been handed over to municipal enterprises and military units for repair and construction work.

«That’s a very small figure — 8,000 tonnes of waste — when we consider that over 4,700,000 tonnes have been generated since 2022. So you can see that the percentage is very small, and there is a lack of equipment to process it. For the time being, it is only available in Mykolaiv. But we are working with international organisations to obtain additional equipment,» said Dmytro Mats.

He added that seven temporary waste disposal sites have currently been approved in the region.

Two of these are in the Mykolaiv community, and the others are in the Snihurivka, Novyi Buh Inhulka, Pryvilne and Shevchenkove communities. The debris is either transported to these temporary sites and stored until it can be processed and reused in reconstruction, or it remains at the sites of destruction.

Vitalii Shevchenko, director of the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig», reported that the plant’s total capacity for processing demolition waste is 40–50 thousand tonnes per month. He added that currently only three sorters are working at the plant, although around 40 workers are needed to increase the processing rate to full capacity, which is why the process takes significantly longer.

Over the nine months of its operation, 9.5 million hryvnias from the Mykolaiv budget have been spent on maintaining the demolition waste processing site. On average, this amounts to around 1.055 million hryvnias per month.

Read also the article by NikVesti «Waste of war: is the plant in Mykolaiv keeping up with the scale of the destruction?».

Processing of demolition waste in Mykolaiv

The construction waste recycling plant in Mykolaiv began operations in spring 2025. The project was implemented with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which provided specialised equipment, whilst the site for the plant was developed using funds from the city budget.

The plant’s capacity allows it to process around 12,000 tonnes of such waste per month, and the resulting material is intended for use in road repairs.

By the end of 2024 alone, around 120,000 tonnes of construction waste had accumulated in Mykolaiv. As of January 2025, the plant had processed 4,500 tonnes of demolition waste into building materials.

In a comment to NikVesti, Deputy Mayor Serhii Korenev stated that the construction waste recycling plant in Mykolaiv is planned to be used to serve the needs of two further regions: Kherson region and part of Kirovohrad region.

At the same time, communities wishing to use the services of the construction waste recycling plant following destruction are being offered two options for cooperation. Under the first, they can hand over all waste for recycling at a lower cost; under the second, they can receive the recycled material back, though this option will be more expensive.

Read also the article by NikVesti: «Three months for a five-storey block: how destroyed buildings are being demolished in Mykolaiv».

As of February 2026, 4.6 million tonnes of debris from the destruction had already accumulated in Mykolaiv.