Russian bombardments have generated more than a billion tons of debris across Ukraine since 2022. Now, local and international efforts are meticulously sorting the bricks, concrete, metal, and wood, preparing these materials for a second life in new buildings and roads.

In 2024, about two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Anna Prokayeva sensed an opportunity. While the nation’s landfills were overflowing with debris from Russian bombing campaigns, the frontline village of Ruska Lozova — occupied for several months in 2022 — was crying out for reconstruction materials, its residents desperate to start putting their lives back together.

For Prokayeva, executive director of Zero Waste Kharkiv, the easternmost link of the Zero Waste Europe network, the quandary triggered an idea: Engage local volunteers to recover the parts of Ruska Lozova’s bomb-flattened village hall, then make this material available for other construction projects.…