Thousands of people across Russia on Sunday took to the streets to call for trash reform, in what has become a political flashpoint for the country.

Organizers said some 26 regions took part in a nationwide demonstration titled “Russia is not a dump,” in protest of Moscow’s plan to solve a trash crisis by sending waste to surrounding regions. Last March, more than fifty children were hospitalized in a town outside of Moscow after a trash dump began emanating noxious fumes, sparking protests across the Moscow region.

On Jan. 1, so-called national “trash reform” took effect, which tasked regions with choosing operators to collect waste. But critics say the plan will only increase the costs of garbage collection.

The highest turnout on Sunday was in the northern region of Arkhangelsk, a city some 1,200 kilometers north of Moscow, organizers said. The region is one of several set to take in Moscow’s waste. In an earlier protest on Dec. 2, organizers said some 30,000 turned out there.