Kyiv, 18 June 2020 – This weekend the first composter for processing organic waste was installed at Zhytniy Market in Kyiv. It was the result of joint work by a team from the Community Safari project, which was launched by the UNDP’s Accelerator Labs in Ukraine and the NGO “Agents of Change.”

Food markets generate large amounts of organic waste, which is usually just sent to landfills. Having identified this problem, a Community Safari project team came to the conclusion that composting was  one of the most appropriate, optimal and environmentally friendly ways of dealing with the organic waste. Composting is an effective nature-based solution that allows for  sustainable community development, waste recycling, meeting communities’ needs for organic fertilizer, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and contributing to the fight against climate change.

Eugenia Sukretna, a member of the Community Safari project team, said the team’s work wouldn’t end with the installation of the composter: “We will test business modules for which form of composting is not only the most environmentally friendly, but also the most cost-effective choice. We agreed with companies to take the newly created humus for testing. If everything goes smoothly, they will continue to buy it on the market."

After the composter’s installation, 1 m³ of organic waste was loaded into it, and everyone could see how the composter works, and how the waste is converted into fertilizer.

The installation of a composter at Zhytniy Market is an experiment carried out as part of the UNDP’s Accelerator Labs in Ukraine Community Safari project. It aims to find innovative nature-based solutions to the problems faced by local communities in Ukraine. The initiative is being implemented jointly with the "Agents of Change" non-governmental organization, which coordinates the work of the teams and provides mentoring support in finding innovative ways to solve problems in Kyiv’s Podil district.

Commenting on the project, UNDP Ukraine Deputy Resident Representative Manal Fouani said that “to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we needed to transform our societies, our economies, our consumption and production patterns, and most of all, our relationship with nature. 

“Nature underpins the SDGs: it supports vital ecosystem services, biodiversity, improved livelihoods, and so on. At UNDP Ukraine, we see nature-based solutions as a catalyst for achieving the SDGs. That is why we are pioneering nature-based solutions for cities in Ukraine. Last year, we launched a Community Safari to test first nature-based solutions in Kyiv, and now the experiments have started to bear fruit.”

Read more about the composter in Zhytniy Market in our article.

Background:

UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab is a global UNDP initiative aimed at identifying, elaborating and scaling-up innovative and sustainable solutions for local communities. Sixty Accelerator Labs teams are serving 78 countries to tackle 21st century development challenges.

Media contacts:

Yuliia Samus, Communication Specialist, UNDP Ukraine, communications.ukraine@undp.org

Photos: Oleksandr Ratushniak / UNDP Ukraine