Examining the role of NGOs in Environmental Policy Debates: the case of Russia

The increasing amount of municipal solid waste disposal has become the foreground of environmental issues in Russia. Several waste management policies, including promotion of waste separation, recycling and waste incineration, have been introduced in Russian regions. However, currently the reform of waste management has not shown any substantial results. In this context, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an increasingly important role, initially having outlined drawbacks of the renewed waste management system. Recent studies on Russian politics have argued that NGOs will avoid publicly criticizing government policy in order to function in a restricted legal environment. On the other hand, environmental NGOs are actively involved in promoting an improved waste management system. This raises the question of what communicative strategy NGOs use. The paper focuses on how environmental NGOs draw on or contest official government narratives in the waste management sphere. This study also compares alternative approaches to municipal solid waste management proposed by the government and non-governmental organizations. This paper applies the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to reveal NGOs’ narrative strategies on waste management policy in Russia and its relationship with recycling policy implementation. Within this context, this research examines the narratives through which NGOs promote their recycling policy and relates them with governmental narratives on the issue. Empirically, the research draws on an analysis of narratives used by NGOs that are loyal to the state or contest it and governmental actors. Additionally, the empirical data includes the interviews with representatives of Russian non-governmental organizations about their communicative strategies.