Published on: 2026-09-12
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
As of August 1, 2026, more than 202.9 thousand tons of waste had accumulated here – about as much material as would be needed to build 20 multi-storey buildings.
Just a year ago, Ivanna Nazarenko had no connection to the waste management sector. Today, looking at these piles, she sees not only the consequences of war but also a valuable source of raw materials.
Ivanna heads one of the departments of the municipal enterprise “Municipal Company for Waste Management” of the Kharkiv City Council. The approach that made her look at destruction in a new way is called Urban Mining – the development of urban deposits, or “urban mining.” It is the process of extracting valuable resources and raw materials from urban waste, buildings, and worn-out infrastructure, instead of mining minerals from the earth.
The only specialized venue in the city
According to the head of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, among all major cities in Ukraine, Kharkiv has experienced the most extensive destruction. In July 2026, he reported that about 13,000 structures in the city were damaged, of which approximately 10,000 are residential buildings. Around 4,000 buildings have already been restored. However, shelling continues, and the volume of construction debris increases every month.
The complex managed by Ivanna’s enterprise is the only official site in Kharkiv designated by city authorities for the reception and processing of such waste. Everything left after the strikes is brought here.
Photo from Ivanna Nazarenko’s personal archive
“More than 200 thousand tons is not just a number. It is a colossal challenge, but at the same time new opportunities,” says Ivanna. “We asked ourselves: how can we make sure that this waste is not just accumulating, but turns into a valuable resource for the city’s restoration – and all this without harming the environment?”
To see a resource where there used to be trash
Ivanna began searching for an answer within the framework of the pilot initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on “urban mining,” which was implemented from July 2025 to July 2026 as part of the project “Green industrial recovery through the development of municipalities in Ukraine.”
The program covered 50 territorial communities in the Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions. Its main goal is to radically change the attitude towards construction waste, turning it from a ‘waste’ category into a resource for reconstruction.
At the core of the approach lies a simple idea: materials already integrated into the urban environment — in buildings, infrastructure, and surfaces — after proper sorting and recycling can be returned to economic circulation instead of ending up in landfills. In this situation, the city is viewed not as a source of waste, but as an “anthropogenic deposit.”
“Initially, this topic was completely new to me,” Ivanna recalls. “But the deeper I delved into studying it, the more I learned about national and international experience and saw how these solutions are implemented in other municipalities, the more clearly I understood: this is not just an interesting concept but a real practical tool for the restoration of Ukrainian cities.”
Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Borodyanka
It did not stop with webinars alone. Ivanna passed a competitive selection and became one of five representatives from the communities of Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions who went on a study trip to Germany.
In November 2025, they studied the experience of Heidelberg, Heppingen, and Stuttgart. Participants saw firsthand how former military towns and industrial zones are being transformed into new residential neighborhoods based on circular economy principles. They learned how buildings receive “material passports” (which clearly specify what the structure consists of and what can be extracted from it during dismantling), and also saw powerful crushing units and sorting lines in operation.
Photo from the personal archive of Ivann Nazarenko in Heidelberg.
What impressed Ivanna most was not any specific technical solution, but how all the elements are arranged into a single continuous chain — from dismantling the building and sorting debris to recycling and reusing materials in construction. “Urban mining” ceased to be an abstraction and turned into a clear technological process.
And already in February 2026, Ivanna and her colleagues went to Borodyanka in the Kyiv region to see how similar methods are adapted to Ukrainian realities – taking into account local legislation, budgets, and tasks for operational recovery after the destruction.
“We got to know people who had already implemented similar solutions, analyzed real cases, communicated with experts, and established contacts,” Ivanna shares. “Many of those connections have developed into full-fledged professional cooperation, which today helps develop urbanistic mining here in Kharkiv.”
Nine thousand tons
At the Kharkiv site, raw materials are first sorted, then minerals (which form the basis of all construction materials – editor’s note) are crushed. The output material consists of roughly half secondary concrete aggregate, and about 15 percent is scrap metal.
As of August 1, 2026, the enterprise has processed more than 9,100 tons of waste. Approximately 193,800 tons remain waiting to be processed. At the current equipment capacity (about 3,780 tons per month), processing this volume will require more than four years of continuous operation.
The first batches of recycled materials are already being used in the construction of access roads and landscaping of the territories. The next task is to achieve their use directly in construction.
To get closer to this goal, the enterprise turned to laboratories of Ukrainian universities. Together with specialists, the employees are testing how screenings (small particles remaining after crushing) behave as part of new building materials.
At the same time, a unified vision for the system of handling not only the debris left after destruction but also regular construction waste was developed in Kharkiv. For this purpose, a “roadmap” and clear mechanisms for interaction among all participants in the process were created.
The enterprise “Municipal Waste Management Company” of the Kharkiv City Council Materials already integrated into the urban environment – into buildings, infrastructure, and surfaces – after proper sorting and recycling can return to economic circulation.
Systemic issues
Despite initial successes, scaling up recycling is hindered by systemic problems that the municipality cannot solve alone. The country still lacks technical regulations and standards for secondary construction raw materials, and certification procedures are not regulated. In practice, this means the following: the material can be crushed, but officially confirming its suitability for major construction is difficult.
In addition, the removal of construction debris from a damaged site requires the official consent of the owner, and legislative incentives for the use of recycled materials are currently practically non-existent.
The war itself creates serious problems. Due to air raid alerts and the risk of repeated strikes, sorting the rubble right at the site of the destruction is too dangerous. Moreover, some of the special equipment is used to clear new rubble after attacks on Kharkiv — rubble which then replenishes the processing site again.
How the idea became part of city plans
One of the main outcomes of the pilot initiative was the development of a special action plan for “urban mining” for Kharkiv, which outlines specific steps for the recycling and reuse of construction waste.
In March 2026, the concept of developing urban deposits was officially included in the draft of the Development Strategy of the Kharkiv City Territorial Community – a document that defines the future of the city. The strategy is still being refined, and its approval is planned for 2027. Moreover, this approach is already reflected in the community’s strategic environmental assessment, and the next step will be its integration into the local waste management plan.
For Ivanna, this is the key outcome: the concept she became acquainted with just a year ago has become part of the official city restoration program. Meanwhile, the team is negotiating with European companies on technology supplies and the implementation of possible joint projects.
A look into the future
Ivanna is convinced that the potential of this approach goes far beyond mitigating the consequences of military actions.
“Urban mining concerns not only the debris after destructions. In the long term, this approach should also be applied during the resettlement or demolition of dilapidated and hazardous housing. This will help preserve natural resources, reuse materials, and establish a modern circular economy model, which will become a crucial pillar for the post-war reconstruction of our cities,” she says.
This perspective completely changes the very meaning of reconstruction. It is not just about building something new to replace what was destroyed, but about preserving the value of the materials already present in the city, reducing the extraction of primary raw materials, and lessening the environmental impact.
“Participating in this project became something more for me than just a new professional experience,” Ivanina sums up. “It proved that even the most difficult problems can be turned into points of growth and development if you have a team of like-minded people, a desire to learn, and to implement new solutions.”
*The article was prepared based on materials from the UN country team.
Please note; This information is raw content received directly from the information source. It represents an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.