During 2025, the volume of production and consumption waste in Russia decreased significantly. According to the latest data from the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), the country’s waste generation dropped by 8.6 percent compared to 2024. This change is largely attributed to modifications in the legislative framework and the reclassification of industrial and mining by-products.
Comprehensive Waste Generation and Management Data
In 2025, a total of 7.84 billion tons of production and consumption waste was generated across the Russian Federation, representing an 8.6% decline from the previous year. Rosprirodnadzor’s official report also provided an exact breakdown of the fate of this massive volume of waste, which is distributed as follows:
-
3.87 billion tons of waste were temporarily deposited in storage facilities.
-
1.89 billion tons of waste were permanently buried in landfills.
-
1.87 billion tons of waste were disposed of (recovered or treated).
-
9.8 million tons of waste were successfully neutralized.
The Legislative Background of the Decrease
The reduction in the total waste volume is not solely due to a decline in industrial production, but rather administrative and legislative changes. Under new regulations that came into effect in 2023, overburden (waste rock) generated during mining that is reused in economic activities is no longer included in official waste statistics. Furthermore, the legal amendments allowed certain materials generated during production processes to be officially reclassified as by-products instead of falling under the previous waste category.
Regional and Industrial Concentration
Waste generation in Russia is highly concentrated both geographically and industrially. The data reveals that more than half of all generated waste—exactly 56 percent—is concentrated in just four regions:
-
Kemerovo Region: approximately 28%
-
Yakutia (Republic of Sakha): 12%
-
Krasnoyarsk Territory: approximately 10%
-
Sakhalin Region: more than 6%
The vast majority of the emissions continue to be driven by the extraction industries and metallurgy, which are the largest contributors to the statistics mentioned above.
The State of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
In addition to industrial waste, the report also addresses residential and municipal waste. In 2025, a total of 46.4 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was generated. According to reports from regional and waste management operators, 63 percent of this volume originated directly from the residential sector.
The management and final destination of municipal solid waste were distributed as follows:
-
37.75 million tons were buried / permanently landfilled.
-
25.48 million tons were sent for further processing.
-
4.6 million tons were disposed of / recovered.
-
1.12 million tons were neutralized.
(The significant overlap between certain categories stems from the fact that municipal waste treatment can consist of multiple phases; therefore, the amounts sent for processing and the amounts ultimately buried result in cumulative statistics compared to the baseline figure of 46.4 million tons.)
Official and Referenced Sources:
-
Original News Agency Article: AK&M – The volume of waste generation in Russia decreased by 8.6% in 2025
-
State Authority Providing the Statistics: Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation)
