"The government decided to build us a wonderful garbage dump."
Residents of a village in the Altai Krai have attracted national attention by protesting a waste recycling plant. They're not against recycling; they simply don't trust the authorities.
Residents of the village of Pavlovsk in the Altai Krai have been protesting for almost a year and a half against the construction of a waste recycling facility planned for five kilometers from the village. In November 2023, an unauthorized rally was held there, attended by about a thousand people. It became one of the largest protests in Russia in recent years. NeMoskva investigated the reasons for the standoff. The cause is not waste recycling per se, but a profound lack of trust among citizens in the government.
In 2022, the government of the Altai Territory and the state-owned company Russian Ecological Operator (PEK REO) signed agreement, which called for the construction of five waste processing facilities (WPFs) in the region. The total processing capacity was expected to be 600 tons of waste per year, with investment volumes reaching eight billion rubles.
The largest waste treatment plant was planned to be the Pavlovsky Waste Management Enterprise, which was planned to be built by 2024 in the Pavlovsky District. The site is located approximately 60 kilometers from the regional capital, Barnaul. The complex was expected to be located five kilometers from the city of Pavlovsk and the village of Borovikovo, and nine kilometers from the village of Yelunino. The facility was planned to process 300 tons of waste, and its cost was estimated at four billion rubles.
Despite the fact that the region was one of the first to sign such an agreement with the Russian Environmental Operator (similar agreements have been signed with 75 regions to date), not a single plant has been built there yet. One of the reasons—besides the authorities' sluggishness—is the protests of residents of the Pavlovsky District, who protested against the proximity of the KPO in 2022.
People against: the beginning
"They want to bring waste from the Barnaul and Kamensk zones here. According to our estimates, that's about 940 residents, and all their waste will end up here," Vladislav Shutov estimates.
He's an entrepreneur and runs a funeral business in Pavlovsk. He was one of the first to join the activist group. He says he couldn't stay on the sidelines, immersed himself in the topic of modern waste management reform, and began to understand the issue. He also learned about similar stories in other regions.
"Pavlovsk is in a lowland, and the site where they want to build the landfill is at a higher elevation. And, given the prevailing wind conditions, all that smell [from the processing plant] will settle here and never go away," the source comments.
Pavlovsk is surrounded by a ribbon-like pine forest—an ancient forest. The village boasts a pond and a dam built by Ivan Polzunov, an 18th-century inventor who created Russia's first steam engine. Shutov lists the lake as home to children's sports camps and a sanatorium for children with lung problems. He concludes:
— And instead, the government decided to build us this wonderful garbage dump!
Surprisingly, the initial wave of protest was sparked by an official—an employee of the radio frequency center's management, says Ivan Orlov, a Communist Party deputy in the Pavlovsky District Assembly. Fearing for the safety of his parents, who live in the Pavlovsky District, he created a group on a messaging app to communicate and coordinate actions. However, Orlov says the civil servant soon had to step back from this activity due to pressure from management.
Like-minded residents of the district began to collaborate in a WhatsApp chat, which spread through word of mouth. From its earliest days, the group was rife with trolls who attempted to create chaos and discredit the movement. According to Orlov, they would start a row to force people to leave the chat. Later, when the chat moved to Telegram, according to Orlov, "snitches" remained, informing the regional administration's Department of Internal Policy about the group's plans.
Activists began researching the issue, trying to find out more about the Altai Krai authorities' plans. However, Orlov says, over the past two years, they have received numerous formal replies to their inquiries, including to the presidential administration. For example, when people requested information on the planned plant's capacity, they were told that its construction had not yet been decided and that the parameters would be known once the project was developed.
The Pavlovsk waste treatment plant project raises many questions. For example, Shutov says, regional operators will be transporting waste from areas located quite far away. The distance from the farthest settlement can be 140 km. The longer the waste takes to transport, the fewer "useful fractions" (glass, metal, plastic, paper) can be recovered, especially in the harsh Siberian winters and hot summers. For example, a plastic bottle can simply melt during long-distance transportation in the heat. High transportation costs also impact waste disposal rates.
Shutov believes that the Pavlovsk region could see a repeat of the story of the Vostok waste processing plant near Moscow. The waste processing facility was built near the village of Potseluyevo in 2019. And for five years now, residents of nearby villages have been complaining about it. complain odors and detect emissions of pollutants (such as hydrogen sulfide) that are hundreds of times higher than the maximum permissible concentration. Moreover, the KPO's "impact" zone mostly even settlements located more than 40 kilometers from the complex, in particular, Yegoryevsk.
Currently, the activists' main forum for communication is a Telegram chat, which has over 600 members. Many are convinced that the promised modern, high-tech plant near Pavlovsk will in fact be an ordinary landfill, emitting a suffocating stench. A similar landfill already exists in the area, constantly burning, and residents don't want another.
We don't believe you
Both Vladislav Shutov and Ivan Orlov say that residents of the Pavlovsky District aren't actually opposed to waste recycling facilities per se. On the contrary, they're in favor: they're for environmental protection and for the proper implementation of waste management reform, which includes recycling.
The problem is that they simply don't trust the authorities who paint a rosy picture. And there are reasons for that.
Shutov recounts how, during one of the activists' meetings with the authorities, he spoke with Andrei Strelkovsky, Minister of Natural Resources of the Altai Krai. He asked about the business model of the future enterprise, but received no clear answer:
"I asked if this plant would have workshops for extracting useful fractions and processing them. The answer was no. So who would collect them and where would they be transported? They told me, 'Well, someone will.' Imagine, some multi-billion dollar project, and such a fantastic answer!"
Before meeting with the public, the authorities remained completely silent. After the KPO announcement in 2022, they made no comment. In 2023, the silence persisted, likely due to the gubernatorial elections, which resulted in United Russia member Viktor Tomenko being re-elected for a second term. Only then, in November 2023, did a meeting with local authorities, regional government representatives, and members of parliament take place at the district administration regarding the plant's construction. Citizens were supposed to be invited, but few were able to get into the cramped office. Most Pavlovsk residents who attended were barred from the meeting, leaving them outside. Instead of officials, they saw security forces with batons, helmets, and bulletproof vests.
Those who attended the meeting heard that the construction of a waste management facility would improve their lives, including by closing the constantly burning landfill in the area. They responded that it was precisely because of this landfill that they distrusted the authorities—how could they talk about advanced technologies and recycling when they couldn't solve the problem of smoldering garbage for years? In response, they were accused of "polluting their own land"—a claim made by Igor Panarin, a United Russia member of the Altai Legislative Assembly and head of the Housing and Utilities Committee. Natural Resources Minister Andrei Strelkovsky also blamed the villagers for the landfill fires.
"They don't even have a plan for what will be there," says Shutov. "At the moment [from responses to inquiries], we know that there will be a landfill for household waste and some kind of sorting plant. What kind is unknown. They tell us we'll only find out about it when someone wins the tender and starts preparing the plant's documentation. So, okay, right? And they tell us everything will be fine, that it will be a cutting-edge plant. How can we trust it and talk about anything else after that?"
The results of the survey of the area where the plant is planned to be built also raise public mistrust. The preliminary selection was made in 2022, and in 2023 ordered "Research work to select a land plot" for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant. The work, for 1,3 million rubles, was carried out by a Khabarovsk contractor with a hard-to-remember name—the interregional public organization "Socially Progressive Alliance for Scientific, Theoretical, and Practical Assistance to the Socioeconomic and Cultural Growth of Regions 'Growth of Regions.'" In 2024, this organization was awarded two included was added to the register of unscrupulous suppliers by decision of the antimonopoly authorities of the Bryansk, Yaroslavl, and Kostroma regions. According to the customers, the company failed to fulfill the terms of contracts for surveying natural areas on time. But, judging by status There were no complaints about the contract on the government procurement website regarding the work in the Altai Territory.
According to Ivan Orlov, none of the activists saw the survey results. He is certain that no survey was actually conducted at the site in the Pavlovsky District.
It's possible that the Pavlovsky District was chosen as the site for the waste processing plant "thanks" to the former head of the district, Anton Voronov. In early 2022, he became the Minister of Transport of the Altai Krai, but retained his influence in the municipality. According to a NeMoskva source, he may be one of the lobbyists for the construction of the waste processing plant in this area, representing the interests of major federal players who intend to profit from the construction and operation of the waste processing plant.
Still unconvincing
Ivan Orlov recounts that in 2023, he was included in a regional delegation that traveled to learn about the "technological processes" at the Kashira waste processing plant in the Moscow region—KPO Don, which is maintained by RT-Invest (a Rostec subsidiary and also the operator of the Platon system). The plan was likely to inspire the district administration, local council members, and other regional officials to see this positive example and try to convince Pavlovsk residents that such facilities pose no inconvenience.
"The officials were counting on me coming over, taking a look, coming back, and telling people, 'Let's build.' But that 'Wow!' didn't happen," the interviewee shares.
According to Orlov, the management of the Kashira complex admitted that it recycles no more than 10% of the incoming waste, with the remaining 90% being landfilled. At the facility, paper, plastic, and aluminum are separated, pressed into briquettes, and transported somewhere (they didn't tell Orlov where exactly). No companies have been established at the complex that would reuse this raw material and manufacture products from it. Meanwhile, three thousand tons of technical soil are produced monthly from the waste delivered to the Don waste processing plant.
"They sort the organic matter, place it in silo-like tanks, and speed up the decomposition process by introducing air. It all stinks. Then they try to separate out the small debris—glass, plastic, etc. They haven't figured out what to do with this soil yet, so they bury it in special bowls," Ivan Orlov explained.
According to him, separate collection is essential for proper waste recycling in Russia. Few people will recycle a dirty plastic bottle from a garbage truck, for example, because cleaning it makes the process significantly more expensive. Separate collection is virtually nonexistent in the Altai Krai, and the few PET bottle containers installed by enthusiasts in courtyards don't count.
Furthermore, Orlov continues, the Don waste management company does not accept construction waste or other specific waste found in the Altai Krai, an agricultural region. The area is predominantly rural, so the waste composition varies. For example, wood-burning stoves are common among residents of private homes, so ash may be deposited at landfills.
"I asked Minister Strelkovsky where we were going to dispose of the construction waste. He said that at least this should be the case first, and then we'll figure something out," the deputy recalls.
We will take further action.
In November 2023, after a meeting at the administration, activists decided to hold a large gathering to attract the attention of the authorities. Ivan Orlov tried They planned to hold a meeting with voters at the Yunost Stadium in Pavlovsk's Hyde Park. The district administration refused, citing damage to the building near the site from a recent hurricane, which allegedly posed a danger to citizens. They then decided to hold the rally without approval, which is permitted as long as the gathering is in Hyde Park and no more than 100 people.
The official organizer was State Duma deputy Maria Prusakova from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in whose district the Pavlovsky District is located. On November 25, the stadium came Around 1000 people, recalls Ivan Orlov. The protest effectively escalated into an unsanctioned rally, but despite the police presence, there were no clashes or arrests. The Pavlovsk story went beyond the region and resonated throughout federal media as one of the largest protests in recent years.
Authorities in the Altai region called residents of the Pavlovsky district "frightened and deceived." The regional administration conveyed its position through a press release from the Ministry of Natural Resources. Officials statedthat the rally organizers, allegedly advocating for "old landfills," misled citizens for political purposes.
"For some reason, we have strange people who have decided to fight against such environmentally friendly plants, <…> now they are trying to mislead the residents of the Pavlovsky District through deception and distortion of facts, having first intimidated them with false beliefs. <…> In doing so, they are unaware of the consequences of their actions, which include the impossibility of building modern waste processing plants and further environmental pollution with unprocessed waste. This is essentially what these people are trying to achieve for their own immediate political gain," the ministry asserted.
After this, officials fell silent again, ceasing to speak publicly on the issue as the presidential election approached. According to a source in the Altai government, the resulting federal backlash could even force the Altai Krai government to abandon plans to build a plant on municipal territory.
In parallel with these processes, from December 2023 to April 2024, activists collected signatures for a petition to Governor Viktor Tomenko. They demanded that the regional governor get involved in resolving the issue—until recently, he had never publicly commented on the situation. In April, the regional administration received a petition. surrendered Around five thousand signatures. In December, people also recorded a video message to Putin for the Direct Line, but their question was not broadcast.
After this, on April 24, during Tomenko’s annual report, for the first time expressed On the topic of waste treatment plant construction, although he didn't say anything new: "What we're discussing today at these rallies, frankly, is simply misleading people, leading to a dead end, and isn't bringing us any closer to solving this complex problem. You know, emotions are a poor guide, but we must all understand the main goals and key constraints within which we will make such complex long-term decisions in the same way."
The governor also reiterated officials' statements that the issue of selecting a construction site has not yet been resolved, and emphasized that citizens will certainly be consulted for their opinions.
Ivan Orlov believes that the authorities are likely indeed looking for another site for the waste processing plant. In early May, the initiative group received a response to its appeal to the governor. It stated that the Pavlovsky waste processing plant is now designed to process 250 tons of waste per year, produce 88 tons of soil and 38 tons of fuel, and bury 150 tons of waste per year. It is expected that at least 20% of the incoming waste will be recycled. It is also stated that the plant is planned to be built under a concession, but the concessionaire is not yet available.
"The implementation of the project to build a modern waste treatment plant for the Barnaul and Kamensk zones will enable separate collection of solid municipal waste and eliminate historical landfills in the Pavlovsky District, which will have an overall positive impact on environmental quality in the Pavlovsky District. Please note that a final decision on the construction site of the planned waste treatment facility has not been made. Land selection is underway," the document states. Activists, however, consider it yet another formality, as they have not received answers to questions regarding site surveys or assurances that the decision to build the waste treatment plant on the previously designated site has been rescinded.
Vladislav Shutov is currently in contact with activist groups from other regions who are also protesting the construction of waste processing plants near populated areas. For example, with activists opposing the aforementioned waste processing plant "Vostok" in the Moscow region, and with residents of the village of Plotnikovo in the Novosibirsk region, who are actively are struggling against the construction of a plant planned for a kilometer from the settlement. Both Shutov and Ivan Orlov intend to continue the protest unless the authorities change their plans.