Measures are being taken in Belarus to tackle the problem of persistent organic pollutants

The problem of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is very relevant throughout the world. Given their widespread use in industry and agriculture in the past, most POPs are of artificial origin. The volumes of obsolete pesticides stored in the Republic of Belarus are currently estimated at more than 10,000 tons.

The country is implementing measures to eliminate or minimize the production of new pollutants, as well as systematic work is carried out on the safe storage of obsolete pesticides, their environmental disposal and capacity development in the field of sustainable management of POPs.

In 2022, 570 tons of obsolete pesticides were removed from Belarus and disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, as part of the implementation of the project «Sustainable Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Chemicals in the Republic of Belarus, GEF-6». As a result, the Grodno and Vitebsk regions were completely cleared of hazardous waste.

The environmentally sound management of chemicals makes an important contribution to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and other SDGs.