 A walk on the underside By Volodymyr SENCHENKO |
Like much of the world, Ukraine has become a society of consumers. And, like much of the world, the nation is struggling with what to do with the byproducts of a society that values easy-open packaging, single-use blades, disposable diapers and non-biodegradable plastic packaging.
These are the conveniences of modern life, we are told by a mass media that engulfs us in a sensory wash of colors, fragrances, designs, and catchy slogans. They sell us on the benefits of the conveniences a disposal product offers, but never mention what happens to the refuse when the chips are gone, the soda's empty or the new television is unpacked. Despite their silence, this reeking and unattractive aspect of our society does exist.
During the late 1970s, I hosted a program on state television. In that weekly program, I answered viewers' letters. On one such program, which was dedicated to the disposal of solid and liquid waste products, I opined that there was ultimately no solution to the problem, which I defined as primarily an economic issue, since one industry's waste is often useful fodder for another industry.
I had struck a chord, and received hundreds of letters. Viewers reacted viscerally to my thesis; either strongly supporting or vehemently rejecting it. And responses came from across the board - school children, scholars, engineers and retirees got involved in this controversial discussion. I as moved by the wise suggestions of enthusiasts willing to fight for a pure environment and the complete, economically justified and appropriate utilization of waste.
While parliament has taken action on a number of environmental issues, most of the progress in the environmental battle has taken place in the West. This is especially true in the treatment of solid waste, which is a significant problem. More than 1.5 tons of solid trash is created annually for each resident of a large city.
Add that figure to the 400 tons of industry discharge per person, 90 tons of which is toxic. Ukraine is home to approximately 20 billion tons of industrial waste and garbage, and that figure is growing by 700 million tons. This refuse is stored on about 60,000 hectares, an area big enough for a small European country.
In the West, businesses and municipalities join to collect, transport and utilize waste in such a way that it does not oppress city dwellers. Unfortunately, over the past decade there has been almost no progress in this direction in our country - Ukraine is legging behind. We hardly manage to collect the waste and transport it to dumps.
Ukraine has four facilities designed to burn waste. Only two are operable. Even so, burning garbage is not the best solution from an economic or environmental viewpoint. Parliament recently passed a law on waste products that orders a study on the problem and suggests that the country will follow the experience of western European countries.
Happily, the same high technology that helped us create the problem may help us to solve it. Ukrainian scientists have developed a process that recycles waste into gasoline, diesel oil, carbon and other useful products through a chemical reaction using an electromagnetic accelerator. Such aggregates are very profitable - a few are already being built.
One of the letters I received in response to the television program was from a scholar who said that the major problem would soon be sewage. The volume of liquid waste is very impressive - about 400 liters per resident per day.
This requires a permanent solution, as solid waste for years, but liquids are discharged into rivers, oceans or percolate into the aquifer. Discharged untreated, our rivers and seas might would be dangerously damaged.
I sent a rather optimistic reply to my correspondent, telling him about the experience of the Bortnychi Aeration System not far from Kyiv. Back in the 80s it was one of the most advanced systems in the Soviet Union. Every day it received more than 1 million square meters of liquid waste from Kyiv, including rainwater collected from the streets of the city. The water was directed to a special aeration, or filtration, field. Then it was used to irrigate crops and only after that was discharged into the Dnieper. A few kilometers down river, the water was almost pure. It was important to apply this purification and filtration technology because water from the Dnieper has always been the only source for dozens of big cities, thousands of businesses, and millions of hectares of irrigated fields. One can judge the quality of filtration by the fact that each year thousands of Kyivans spend their holidays bathing in the river not far from that drainage pipe. Even experienced fishermen don't know exactly where that pipe is.
The scholar replied dourly that one day things would be much worse, and that Ukraine would reach a dead-end.
His prophetic vision has been realized. The silt accumulated in the aeration fields. At first, it was collected and used as an agricultural fertilizer. Later, health officials banned that use, even as a fertilizer for grazing pastures. The layer of silt has gradually grown and is now about 1.5 meters deep. The process of filtration is becoming slower. New locations for aeration fields are needed - there are 170 hectares used for filtration today, but no nw land has been set aside for this use.
Other large cities - inn Ukraine and around the world - are facing the same problem. In the West, costly incinerators burn the silt. But such a prospect would be unacceptable in Ukraine, which needs to import electricity. Every day, the Bortnychi system consumes 450,000 kilowatt hours of power and 4.5 million square meters of gas annually.
There is a profound need to solve the problem soon, and, as a classical author once correctly noted: "Needs move science and technical progress more than dozens of universities."
An economical solution may be at hand. Kyiv's Sukhin Construction Bureau has built the Su-54 plant, which uses silt as a fuel to generate heat and electricity. The first plant was been recently completed and as many as seven additional plants are projected. Each will consume 960 kilograms of waste per hour and producing up to 15,000 square meters of butane gas. The gas can be used to produce heat and electrical energy. Scientists are even planning to build a small electric station next year in this area.
The plant's investors hope to see their capital returned within two years and positive cash flow thereafter.
Professionals claim that the Sukhin Construction Bureau's efforts will mark a breakthrough in the ever-increasing challenge of protecting the environment our own activity. The key problem, as usual, is money. The Su-54 plant should at least generate some income to compensate for the cost of treating sewage.
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Read also previous issue' articles:
The Herodotus of Ukrainian History
Ukrainians Want A Country That Respects Them
Ukraine's Brain Drain
Chauvinistic Smoke A Few Words on Russia
Re-inventing Production: Military Giants Discover Consumer Goods
From Cossack to Sumo
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