Waste Management of Mining Enterprises of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation, Case Study for Murmansk Region

The paper discusses relevant problems associated with the exploitation and processing of mineral waste accumulated from mining enterprises during the industrial era. To ensure the preservation of a vulnerable Arctic environment it is necessary to search for the new innovation technologies aimed at increasing the comprehensive use of waste for various purposes of the national economy. The main aim of the work is to assess the efficiency of industrial waste management for the period 2010-2019 by the Arctic mining enterprises which provide open access to the necessary research information. The methodological basis of the analysis are annual reports of enterprises, official documents and scientific publications. The analysis showed that wastes of I-III hazard classes are significantly reduced which meets the requirements of the legislation but wastes of IV and V classes showed multidirectional dynamics and growth respectively. It is shown that for the further improvement of the waste management system there is a need of directions for the search for new comprehensive approaches as development of innovation technologies, reuse of waste with release of new products as part of transition to a circular economy and use of green technologies.