Cleanliness as a brand: how to arrange night and day cleaning in Minsk

Cleanliness is trending, and Minsk is also in the top of the world ranking. In addition to the high quality of products, dranics and flax, Belarusians have another reason to be proud. This is the cleanliness and order that the guests of Belarus celebrate. And not just tourists. How is this result achieved? This is the work of many people and a considerable cost. And the attitude of the Belarusians themselves.

Leonid Taleiko, driver of the watering machine of the company "Gorremavtodor": "We have a very clean city, and, of course, joy that we, our at least a part of it is here." At 19:45 we start and at 7:45 we finish.

When the city falls asleep, another life begins. That's how he's been looking at the night skyline for 42 years. Behind us are thousands of dawns and hundreds of kilometers of roads that should remain clean.

Leonid Taleyko, the driver of the watering machine of the enterprise "Gorremavtodor": "I started, again, with a waterwasher, then carried asphalt, then worked on KAMAZ onboard, then on a vacuum sweeper." We have a universal car, we are prepared for this. In summer we put barrels, in winter we put plows, brushes”.

Yes, behind this, already familiar to us, purity - and modern machines, and the work of thousands of people. Cleaning the avenues is the synchronous work of a large team. Every day 80 tons of garbage are removed from the streets of the capital. Clear pattern. First the garbage truck and cleaning the urns, behind it is a watering machine that literally washes the asphalt and sweeps the garbage to the curbs. After that, a huge vacuum cleaner comes into play. And while some are just beginning their day, others have already made it cleaner.

Evgeny Poplavsky, head of the site of the enterprise "Gorremavtodor": "On average here in Minsk, that is, it turns out about 500 units of equipment per day. Basically, we try to do these works at night, so as not to create traffic jams, some inconvenience for citizens. Tractor-brushes are small, large. Vacuum sweeping equipment, that is, works during the day.”.

Elena Grekova, a worker in the complex cleaning and maintenance of households of the housing and communal services of the Factory district of Minsk: Since 2001 I have been living here, I have been working since 2002. I am from the countryside, so I am not afraid of this work.

A job that's easy to miss. Because a good result is when it feels like it's always been clean. Behind the well-groomed yards, playgrounds and entrances - its early rises. That's how clean she's been for 24 years.

Elena Grekova, a worker in the complex cleaning and maintenance of households of the housing and communal services of the Factory district of Minsk: I have 4 houses for which I am responsible for the street, and 20 entrances – I clean them. In winter we have, of course, earlier, there at 5:30 a.m., so that at 6 we were already at work. And in the summer we're here at 7:00 a.m. I'm already out, I have containers three times a week, so, like, roll out the containers in the morning right away. Well, then I go around the playgrounds, the urns like this, you know, in a circle. People thank when they go and praise, so everything is more pleasant.”.

The cleanliness of the capital is the first thing that every tourist notices. And this is the labor of people, and public funds ... considerable.

Elena Kolyago, Deputy Director for landscaping and sanitary maintenance of the housing and communal services of the Factory district of Minsk: This year, 80 million rubles were allocated. 4405 yard areas are under maintenance. This is 32 million of the total area, cleaned area. Last year, 152 tractors were purchased, they are in each ZREU, it is also for mowing and snow removal.

Gennady Urban, driver of Spetskommunavtotrans: Twenty years soon. We work from morning till night. Here's a millimeter by the car. So that fewer cars were put with violations at the corners, at least there, at the entrances. That would be a lot easier. Trying, yeah. You have to feel the car.”.

That's exactly where the jewelry work is! The usual green garbage trucks maneuver in the yards between parked cars. To help here and experience, and technology.

Gennady Urban, driver of Spetskommunavtotrans: The park is being updated. These machines are much easier to work on. She drives better, softer, quieter. Hydraulics are better than before. Plastic containers also make it easier. There used to be iron. We're only black... TCO on containers. That's exactly what I drive. It's from the entrance and the playground. The VMP is carrying another car.”.

Solid municipal waste and secondary material resources. This is the story of how waste becomes income. And it does not even begin with these urns, but in everyone’s apartment. The garbage sorting system has been made easier. Whereas previously there were separate boxes for glass, paper and plastic – and these are secondary material resources – now they can be discarded in any colored container. For mixed waste, there are black urns.

Irina Lazareva, Head of Operations Department of Spetskommunavtotrans: In order to come to a single, let’s say, denominator of some, yes, the number of these containers decreases, respectively, the city becomes cleaner. We use plastic for the production of RDF fuel. That is, it goes on to produce energy at, say, the Krasnoselsk plant. It's being recycled here with technology. There will now be a decision in the city to install anti-vandal glass containers.”.

These are the sorting lines where garbage becomes a valuable resource – a fuel that replaces coal and natural gas. The new plant near Minsk is capable of processing up to 600 tons of waste per year. Here, they literally manually select what can be put into action again. So waste paper becomes the new packaging. Old tires are the basis and coating for playgrounds. Now about 40% of all waste is sent for recycling in the capital. The strategic figure is 90%.

Igor Sukharevich, director of Ecores municipal waste management company: We produce so-called RDF fuel. At the end of July, we reached almost six thousand tons of finished products. This year we plan to upgrade the site. And we plan to increase production to 10 thousand tons per year. If everything is well divided, properly divided, then practically everything can be recycled.”.

From utilities, Gorremavtodor, Special Kommunavtotrans to a waste processing plant. In this yard decided: Minsk is clean - not only because it is cleaned, but because they do not cook, and made cleanliness a personal matter. They sweep, paint, plant flowers, make installations, build mini-recreation zones – all by themselves.

Nina Mordik, Chairman of the Collegial Public Self-Government Body: People have raised money, we have bought these flowers, in the evening they will come, sit down and admire themselves. It's such a pleasure for people. Parents sit there on benches, discuss problems, children walk with pleasure. It's, you know, expensive. This is why, in Belarusian, I say, "attract asaloda.".

Out of thousands of such personal stories, the Belarusian brand that is recognized far beyond the country is formed – cleanliness and order.