OREANDA-NEWS  The Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management (Rosprirodnadzor) has collected almost three times more payments this year for non-compliance with regulations on the disposal of goods and packaging (environmental collection) than planned, the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia said.

"Improved legal mechanisms for the enforcement of business responsibility for recycling, the enormous preventive work of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management and new approaches to administration have already provided an unprecedented amount of environmental collection in the amount of 19.7 billion rubles in 2025. This is 2.8 times more than planned," the report says.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Moscow became the absolute leader among the regions in terms of eco-collection, where the amount collected exceeded 12 billion rubles. The top ten included the Moscow, Ryazan and Novosibirsk regions, St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Tula regions, as well as the Republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Lipetsk region.

Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor, said at the XI Nevsky International Environmental Congress that, according to the forecast, the amount of the eco-collection this year was expected to amount to 7 billion rubles, taking into account the fact that it is charged for goods and packaging produced in the previous two years, and in 2024 the actual amount of funds raised amounted to 3.77 billion rubles.

"The objective reason for the increase in the amount of eco-collection is the beginning of the functioning of a new, more transparent system of extended producer responsibility (ROP), which allowed businesses to take a more thorough approach to the implementation of ROP. And the subjective one is a huge systematic work on prevention, which was carried out by the Service throughout the year," the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment quoted Radionova as saying.

She said that Rosprirodnadzor, as part of the reporting audit in 2024, sent almost 39 thousand demands, warnings and acts of control; more than 2 thousand more documents have been sent since the beginning of 2025; about 2.3 thousand administrative cases have been initiated since the beginning of August 2024 against manufacturers and importers of infringing goods. "The possibility of bringing to administrative responsibility introduced since last year has also increased the discipline of the subjects of the ROP," Radionova said.

The message from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment notes that the established interdepartmental cooperation has also had a positive impact on the collection of the "environmental payment". So, the Service adopted the data of the Federal Customs Service and the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CRPT, responsible for labeling goods). "In addition, new technologies, including artificial intelligence, have also contributed to optimizing the processes of organizing and conducting this work," the ministry added.

The legislation of the Russian Federation requires manufacturers and importers of certain goods and packaging to dispose of waste or pay an environmental fee; administrative liability is provided for violations, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment reminds.