In Ukraine, recycling war debris to rebuild greener and cheaper

Shrouded in the light mist of a construction site in southern Ukraine, workers in red helmets are busy in the remains of a high school ;destroyed by a Russian bombing. What is currently just a pile of rubble will be recycled. to repair the damage of war.

For this, the high pile of debris must be patiently sorted by the employees, former Ukrainian soldiers demobilized in particular for health reasons and recruited by the French company Neo-Eco, specialist in the procedure, in Lyubomyrivka , in the Mykolaiv region.

A destroyed house in Lyubomyrivka, Ukraine, February 14, 2024 © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

“The idea is to get rid of waste, not throw it in a landfill, and reuse”, explains Artem Soumara, who manages the project, to AFP.

A glance among the debris is enough to imagine the classroom that stood there, before its destruction during the first months of the war in 2022. A physics textbook is still lying among the damaged bricks, near a few torn notebooks .

Once the process is complete, part of the ruins of the school can be used to build roads, produce concrete, build foundations.

All this is “not simple”, admits Mr. Soumara, and “recycling is more difficult than buying new”. Materials that are too contaminated with asbestos, which is very common in Ukraine, cannot, for example, be reused as is.

On this site, the project manager hopes to recycle at minus 70% of debris.

But the process pollutes less than the use of new materials, according to Neo-Eco, the building sector being a major emitter of CO2.

The materials produced in this way “cost less than new ones”, also assures Artem Soumara.

Former Ukrainian soldiers work on a construction site of the French company Neo-Eco in Lyubomyrivka, Ukraine, February 14, 2024 © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

These aspects are crucial for Ukraine, which already wants to tackle its reconstruction even if the fighting continues.

The war caused immense damage, especially in the East and South. Some 10 percent of the country's housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, according to the World Bank, and Kiev estimates that 450 million tons of debris had already been generated by the war by the end of last year.

Far too much for the capacity of the country's landfills, which was already struggling to recycle before the invasion. Left abandoned, this debris could contaminate the surrounding fields or forests.

– Mines –

Neo -Eco used this technique after the explosion at the port of Beirut in 2020. But applying it in a war zone involves difficulties.

Former Ukrainian soldiers clear the debris of a school destroyed by a Russian bombing, on a construction site of the French company Neo-Eco in Lioubomyrivka, Ukraine, February 14, 2024 © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

The day before the AFP visit, a mine was discovered in a corner of the site, although it had been examined before the work began.

Lyubomyrivka, which had about a thousand inhabitants before the invasion, was occupied for a few months in 2022. “The Russians were there,” Artem Soumara says, pointing to a field.

Not far from the construction site, old trenches are still visible. In the village, today about 70 kilometers from the Russian positions, many houses are partially destroyed, roofs torn off.

Being surrounded by this destruction allows the elders soldiers employed on the construction site to feel that they are “helping their native land in its confrontation with the aggressor”, even once their weapons have been laid down, believes Nelli Yarovenko, whose NGO Mission East is a partner in the project.

A former Ukrainian soldier works on a construction site of the French company Neo-Eco in Lyubomyrivka, Ukraine, February 14, 2024 © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

One of them, Volodymyr Vinokour, injured by a shrapnel on the Eastern Front, sees this as a “bridge to civilian life”.

“Every day, we move forward little by little and transform the destroyed building into something new. We erase the consequences of the war”, says this 52-year-old man.

– Priority to the army –

The task will be titanic. The governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, estimates that only 30% of the thousands of damaged buildings in the area have been repaired while bombing continues to cause damage.

The governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, during an interview with AFP, February 14, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

As Ukrainian public funds are “redirected towards defense priorities”, “we depend on help from our American and European partners”, he explains. The Neo-Eco project, for example, receives funding from Denmark.

With a tight budget, projects aimed at reusing debris are “very useful” because ” ecological and less expensive”, judges the governor, who worked for a time in real estate.

Former Ukrainian soldiers work on a construction site of the French company Neo-Eco in Lyubomyrivka, Ukraine, February 14, 2024 © AFP – Oleksandr GIMANOV

But he is well aware that this approach alone will not be enough to “save the situation”.

For the governor, reconstruction must start without waiting for the end of the war, because many projects will not come to fruition for years.

“We have no choice”, he said. “We have to do it now.”

All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse