Enterprise “Municipal Waste Management Company” of the Kharkov City Council Site for processing solid municipal waste, Kharkov. From ruins to resources: how Kharkov is learning to extract building materials from rubble Economic development
Twenty hectares. Approximately this area is occupied by a special zone in Kharkov, where debris and construction waste left after destruction are taken.
As of August 1, 2026, more than 202.9 thousand tons of waste had accumulated here – approximately the same amount of materials that would be used to build 20 multi-storey buildings.
A year ago, Ivanna Nazarenko had nothing to do with the waste management sector. Today, looking at these rubble, she sees not only the consequences of the war, but also a valuable source of raw materials.
Ivanna heads one of the departments of the municipal enterprise “Municipal Waste Management Company” of the Kharkov City Council. The approach that made her take a fresh look at destruction is called Urban Mining – the development of urban deposits, or “urban mining.” This is the process of extracting valuable resources and raw materials from the waste of the urban environment, buildings and waste infrastructure, instead of extracting minerals from the bowels of the earth.
The only specialized site in the city
According to the mayor of Kharkov, Igor Terekhov, of all the major cities of Ukraine, it is in Kharkov that the most large-scale destruction is observed. In July 2026, he reported that about 13 thousand objects were damaged in the city, of which about 10 thousand were residential buildings. About 4 thousand buildings have already been restored. However, shelling continues, and the volume of construction rubble is growing every month.
The complex, managed by Ivanna’s company, is the only official site in Kharkov designated by the city authorities for the reception and processing of such waste. Everything that remains after the attacks is brought here.
Photo from personal archive Ivanna Nazarenko
“More than 200 thousand tons is not just a number. This is a colossal task, but at the same time new opportunities,” says Ivanna. – We asked ourselves the question: how to make sure that this waste does not just accumulate, but turns into a valuable resource for the restoration of the city – and without harming the environment?»
See a resource where you previously saw garbage
Ivanna began to look for the answer within the framework of a pilot initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on “urban mining”, which was implemented from July 2025 to July 2026 – within the framework of the project “Green industrial restoration through the development of municipalities in Ukraine”.
The program covered 50 territorial communities of Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkov regions. Its main goal is to radically change the attitude towards construction waste, turning it from the category of “waste” into a resource for reconstruction.
The approach itself is based on a simple idea: materials already integrated into the urban environment – into buildings, infrastructure and coatings – after proper sorting and recycling, can be returned to economic circulation, rather than rotting in landfills. In such a situation, the city is considered not as a source of waste, but as an “anthropogenic deposit”.
“Initially, this topic was completely new to me,” recalls Ivanna. “But the deeper I dived into its study, the more I learned about national and foreign 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
The matter was not limited to just webinars. Ivanna passed a competitive selection and was one of five representatives of the communities of Sumy, Chernigov and Kharkov regions who went on a study trip to Germany.
In November 2025, they studied the experience of Heidelberg, Goppingen and Stuttgart. Participants saw with their own eyes how former military camps and industrial zones are being transformed into new residential areas based on the principles of the circular economy. They learned how buildings receive “material passports” (which clearly outline what the object is made of and what can be extracted from it during dismantling), and also saw powerful crushing plants and sorting lines in action.
Photo from personal archive Ivanna Nazarenko in Heidelberg.
Ivanna was most struck not by any specific technical solution, but by how all the elements were built into a single continuous chain – from dismantling the building and sorting the rubble to recycling and reusing materials in construction. “Urban mining” has ceased to be an abstraction and turned into a clear technological process.
And already in February 2026, Ivanna and her colleagues went to Borodyanka, Kyiv region, to see how similar methods were adapted to Ukrainian realities – taking into account local legislation, budgets and tasks for rapid restoration after destruction.
“We met people who had already implemented similar solutions, analyzed real cases, communicated with experts and established contacts, – Ivanna shares. “Many of those connections have grown into full-fledged professional cooperation, which today helps to develop urban mining here in Kharkov.”
Nine thousand tons
At the Kharkov site, the raw materials are first sorted, the minerals (they form the basis of all building materials – editor’s note) are then crushed. The output remains material, about half of which is recycled concrete crushed stone, and about 15 percent is scrap metal.
As of August 1, 2026, the enterprise processed more than 9,100 tons of waste. About 193,800 tons still remain in the processing queue. 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. The next task is to achieve their application directly in construction.
To get closer to this goal, the company turned to the laboratories of Ukrainian universities. Together with specialists, employees are testing how screenings (small particles remaining after crushing) behave in the composition of new building materials.
At the same time, Kharkov formed a unified vision for the system of handling not only the rubble left after the destruction, but also ordinary construction waste. For this purpose, we developed a “road map” and clear mechanisms of interaction between all participants in the process.
Enterprise “Municipal Waste Management Company” of the Kharkov City Council Materials already integrated into the urban environment – in buildings, infrastructure and pavements – can be returned to economic circulation after proper sorting and recycling.
System problems
Despite initial successes, the scaling up of recycling is hampered by systemic problems that the municipality cannot solve alone. The country still lacks technical regulations and standards for recycled construction materials, and certification procedures have not been regulated. In practice, this means the following: the material can be crushed, but it is difficult to officially confirm its suitability for capital construction.
In addition, the removal of construction waste from a damaged site requires the official consent of the owner, and legislative incentives for the use of recycled materials are still practically absent.
The war itself creates serious problems. Due to air raids and the risk of repeated strikes, it is too dangerous to sort through the rubble directly at the site of destruction. In addition, some of the special equipment is used to clear new rubble after the attacks on Kharkov – rubble, which will then replenish the processing site.
How the idea became part of city plans
One of the main results of the pilot initiative was the development of a special action plan for “urban mining” for Kharkov, which spelled out specific steps for processing and reusing construction waste.
In March 2026, the concept of urban mining was officially included in the draft Development Strategy Kharkov city territorial community – a document that determines the future of the city. Refinement of the strategy continues, and its approval is scheduled for 2027. In addition, 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 a key result: the concept with which she became acquainted just a year ago has become part of the official program for the restoration of the city.
In parallel, the team is negotiating with European companies about the supply of technologies and the implementation of possible joint projects.
Looking into the future
Ivanna is convinced that the potential of this approach goes far beyond the elimination of the consequences of military operations.
“Urban mining concerns not only the rubble after destruction. In the future, this approach should also be applied to the resettlement or demolition of dilapidated and dilapidated housing stock. This will allow us to conserve natural resources, reuse materials and build a modern circular economic model, which will become the most important support for the post-war reconstruction of our cities,” she says.
This view completely changes the very meaning of reconstruction. It’s not just about building a new one to replace what was destroyed, but about preserving the value of materials already available in the city, reducing the volume of extraction of primary raw materials and reducing the burden on the environment.
“Participation in this project has become for me something more than just a new professional experience,” Ivanna sums up. “He 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 implement new solutions.”
*The article was prepared based on materials from the UN country team.