Residents of the Ezhvinsky District have installed signature collection points in a local church, cafés, shops, and clinics. The authorities plan to build a waste sorting plant, where waste from seven districts of the republic and Syktyvkar will be transported, in Ezhva. The Syktyvkar No. 1 Telegram Channel announced the collection of signatures.
Officials said that the complex would reduce the environmental pressure and introduce separate waste collection in Komi. But the activists believe that only 15% of waste can be sent for recycling, and the rest will end up in a landfill near the complex.
The activists urged residents to file complaints with the Komi Ministry of Natural Resources by December 17. They demanded holding public hearings on the construction, convening a special commission to assess the risks of "social tension", and providing the results of environmental expertise, as well as introducing separate waste collection.
In Arkhangelsk Oblast, neighboring Komi, the authorities also decided to build landfills in seven districts of the region. Among them are the cities of Nyandoma and Koryazhma, as well as the Kholmogorsky District. At the end of May, residents of Nyandoma handed more than 4 thousand signatures against the construction of the landfill over to the governor, and at public hearings, they unanimously demanded stopping the works. In November 2021, communists of Arkhangelsk launched the collection of signatures against the waste sorting plant in the Kholmogorsky district.
Residents of Koryazhma sued local officials over the transfer of land for the landfill construction. In early August, their claim was dismissed.
