Klein offered German business to invest in Tomsk waste sorting

TOMSK, Nov 25 – RIA Tomsk. Mayor Ivan Klein at a meeting with a delegation from Germany invited German businessmen to act as investors for the construction of a waste sorting or waste recycling plant in Tomsk, the press service of the city administration said on Monday.

Earlier it was reported that the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities Bernd Fabritius visited Tomsk. According to the press service, the Commissioner and several other experts from Germany met with the mayor Ivan Klein. Tomsk mayor spoke about the 415-year history of the city, its industrial, scientific and cultural potential.

In turn, Fabritius noted that in May 2020 the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Russian-German Commission and the cultural and business forum will be held, which "will contribute to the development of business, cultural and political cooperation between the two countries". He invited the authorities of Tomsk and local business to take part in the event. Klein supported this proposal, noting that Tomsk is interested in joint projects.

"Now, at the regional level there is a search for investors for the construction of a waste sorting or waste processing plant. If German entrepreneurs are interested in such projects, we are ready to consider their proposals", - the press service quoted Klein.

It was previously reported that in 2019 the Russian Federation began to introduce a new system for the management of municipal solid waste (MSW). Waste sorting complexes and operators should appear in the regions, which will close a chain for the collection, sorting, disposal and recycling of waste.

The operator of Tomsk and the Tomsk region Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Spetsavtohozyaystvo" (SAH) cannot organize industrial waste sorting in the near future due to the complexity of the project and its cost. Currently, plastic, glass and other recyclables separately collected by Tomsk citizens are taken to the sorting station in Seversk.