For dumping garbage "in the planting area" you can be fined 51 thousand hryvnias or imprisoned for 10 years

Illegal landfills, forest littering, illegal waste handling, and ignoring environmental requirements may cost much more than now. In Ukraine, penalties for violations in waste management and environmental crimes may be significantly increased.

The Cabinet of Ministers proposes to simultaneously revise administrative and criminal sanctions: for land and forest pollution, operating without necessary permits, failure to submit waste declarations, or inaction in eliminating illegal landfills, fines may increase up to 51 thousand hryvnias.

At the same time, for the most dangerous violations that pose a threat to human life or cause significant environmental damage, penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment may be established. Communities, local administrations, and businesses will also receive new obligations regarding waste accounting, control, and management.

Two legislative initiatives №15325 and №15327 have appeared in the Verkhovna Rada, proposing a comprehensive update of the responsibility system in waste management and environmental protection. The documents are prepared to implement the Law "On Waste Management" and aim to bring Ukrainian legislation closer to European environmental safety standards.

Bill №15325 concerns administrative responsibility, while bill №15327 addresses criminal responsibility. Essentially, the government proposes a two-tier penalty system: significantly higher fines for less severe violations, and criminal liability for actions causing serious consequences for the environment or people.

Which fines are planned to be increased

Bill №15325 significantly raises fines for damage, pollution, and littering of land and soil with waste, forest damage due to pollution, forest littering with waste, violations of waste management requirements, and rules of settlement improvement.

In particular, for damage, pollution, or littering of land with waste, it is proposed to set fines:

• for citizens — from 1,700 to 5,100 UAH;
• for officials and individual entrepreneurs — from 13,600 to 17,000 UAH.

If such a violation is committed again within a year or causes significant environmental damage, the fine will be:

• for citizens — from 6,800 to 15,300 UAH;
• for officials and individual entrepreneurs — from 42,500 to 51,000 UAH.

Similar sanctions are proposed for forest littering with waste, destruction or damage to forests due to pollution, and violations of waste management rules.

The bill introduces the concept of significant environmental damage, which will be considered damage amounting to 50 to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens.

New fines for declarations, waste management plans, and operating without permits

The document supplements the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses with new administrative violations. Responsibility is proposed for:

• violations of the procedure for submitting waste declarations or failure to submit them;
• absence of a waste management plan;
• carrying out waste processing operations without the appropriate permit;
• non-compliance with the conditions of the permit for waste processing operations;
• failure to take measures to eliminate unauthorized landfills;
• failure to account for landfills and waste with unidentified owners.

For failure to submit a waste declaration or violation of the submission procedure, officials and entrepreneurs face fines from 1,700 to 5,100 UAH.

The same fine is proposed for the absence of a waste management plan.

For carrying out waste processing operations without the appropriate permit, fines will be:

• for citizens — from 1,700 to 5,100 UAH;
• for officials and entrepreneurs — from 6,800 to 17,000 UAH.

In case of repeated violations or causing significant environmental damage, fines may increase up to 51 thousand hryvnias.

Officials will be fined for illegal landfills

The bill proposes separate responsibility for failure to take measures to eliminate unauthorized landfills and failure to account for them.

For officials of local self-government bodies, the fine will be from 3,400 to 17,000 UAH if a landfill is found on communal land within the territorial community.

The same sanctions are provided for officials of local state administrations if landfills are found outside settlements on state-owned land, where there is no land user or landowner.

At the same time, it is proposed to legally establish the obligation of communities and local state administrations to keep records of such landfills and ensure their elimination.

Criminal liability will also be strengthened

Bill №15327 provides for a comprehensive update of the Criminal Code norms regarding environmental crimes and violations in waste management.

In particular, it proposes to strengthen liability for violations of environmental safety rules, pollution of land, atmospheric air, water bodies, and the sea, as well as for illegal importation of waste into Ukraine.

The Criminal Code is also planned to be supplemented with a new article 268-1 "Violation of the established waste management procedure." It will provide liability for managing hazardous waste without a license or other gross violations of waste handling rules if such actions create danger to human life or health or the environment.

For violations of environmental safety rules that created a threat to human life or the environment, penalties from fines to imprisonment for 3 to 5 years are proposed.

If such actions are repeated, committed by a group, or caused significant damage, the penalty may be imprisonment from 4 to 7 years.

In case of death, occurrence of an emergency environmental situation, or other serious consequences, the maximum penalty will be imprisonment from 5 to 10 years.

Additionally, liability for illegal importation of waste and violations of hazardous waste handling rules is strengthened, and grounds for applying criminal-legal measures to legal entities are expanded.

Thus, the government proposes to significantly strengthen responsibility for violations in waste management — from administrative fines to criminal penalties. According to the authors of the bills, this should contribute to reducing the number of illegal landfills, increasing environmental safety, and Ukraine’s compliance with European environmental protection requirements.

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