National standard for eco-industrial parks

On 5 June 2025, the State Enterprise “Ukrainian Scientific-Research and Training Centre of Standardisation, Certification and Quality Problems” issued Order No. 95 on the adoption of national standard DSTU 9328:2025 “Екоіндустріальні парки. Критерії сталості та метод оцінювання” (“Eco-Industrial Parks. Sustainability Criteria and Assessment Method”), which aims to implement international framework criteria for eco-industrial parks, taking into account national conditions of application.

Thus, Ukraine became the first country in Europe and the second in the world to adopt a national standard for eco-industrial parks at the state level.

It establishes a rating scale assessment system – “gold”, “silver” or “bronze” level of compliance. This assesses management effectiveness, process sustainability and environmental impact.

The national standard will come into force on 01 September 2025.

It should be recalled that on 11 February 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading Draft Law No. 12117, which aims to improve the regulatory framework for industrial parks, in particular by introducing the concept of an “eco-industrial park” and granting the Cabinet of Ministers the authority to establish criteria for classifying industrial parks as eco-industrial parks.

According to the Draft Law, an eco-industrial park is an industrial park included in the Register of Industrial Parks, within which the initiator of its creation, the management company, participants and other entities of the industrial park carry out activities in the field of industrial symbiosis.

Industrial symbiosis within an industrial park is contractual cooperation between the initiator of the creation, the managing company, participants and other entities of the industrial park regarding:

  • the production, performance and supply of goods, works and services, and their exchange;
  • processing of waste generated by one production facility by another (except for waste disposal);
  • use of by-products;
  • reuse of water;
  • combined production of electricity and heat (cogeneration);
  • production and use of energy from renewable energy sources and/or alternative fuels.

Thus, the adoption of the relevant national standard is another step towards the implementation of eco-industrial parks in Ukraine, the next step of which will be the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada in the second reading of the relevant Draft Law No. 12117.

We will closely monitor further developments in this area, in particular regarding the status of this standard and the Draft Law, and will report on this in future Legal News.