hold organizations accountable for their waste production through a legislative framework. The legislative framework mandated that organizations must provide adequate processing facilities and recycling operations to accommodate the output of any new materials or products. Due to the widespread philosophy of waste material repurposing and stringent legislative frameworks witnessed across the state, municipal waste management was generally not observed as a significant issue throughout the existence of the Soviet Union. The dissolution of the Soviet Union saw the collapse of the various waste management systems that contributed to the state's efforts in developing a circular economy. Russian Federation (1991 – Present) The newly formed Russian Federation sought to instigate mass reform in the waste management sector to revive the success witnessed under the Soviet government. In 1996, a federal waste reform program called “Waste” was launched by the Russian government, which sought to “create a regulatory and technological framework to conduct a unified government policy regarding waste management at every administrative level”. Additional goals of the program included a structured national recycling initiative and the pilot testing of emerging technologies for improved recycling and decontamination efficiency for both municipal and industrial waste. 80% of the required funding was projected to come from budgetary funds, whilst secondary raw material sales would yield the remaining 20%. The objectives of the program were not realized primarily due to an ensuing lack of financial and political support. Subsequently, a new law administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology was introduced in June 1998, known as Federal Law No. 89-FZ “On the Production and Consumption Waste”. The law defined waste as “the remains of raw materials, materials, semi-finished products, other articles or products that have been formed in the process of production or consumption as well as the goods (products) that have lost their consumer properties”. Additionally, the law provides general guidelines for the governance of waste management across various levels of government as follows: Federal: design and enactment of unified waste management policies across the nation. The Ministry for Natural Resources and Ecology is directly responsible for the implementation of these policies. Regional: environmental reporting to assist the federal government in the effective implementation of waste management policies, in addition to designing and enacting separate regional waste management policies in consonance with federal policy. Local: design and enactment of waste collection and removal services at the community level. Federal Law No. 89-FZ