Pollution at Kazokiškės landfill decreases after waste cover-up, minister says

Pollution levels at the Kazokiškės landfill in Lithuania have dropped following the covering of 14,000 tonnes of semi-burnt waste, though the source of remaining emissions is still under investigation, Environment Minister Kastytis Žuromskas said on Thursday, LRT reports.

“To my knowledge, the waste piles have now been levelled and covered. All the waste brought in from Energesman [waste processing plant] is now simply covered, and, as far as I know, the odours have decreased,” Žuromskas told lawmakers during the government’s weekly session in the Seimas. “However, the search for the [source of] pollution continues.”

The minister stressed that the decision to close the landfill does not fall under his ministry’s authority. Responsibility lies with the Emergency Operations Centre of Elektrėnai Municipality, Vilnius City Municipality, and other local governments using the site, he said.

“If the closure of this landfill were under discussion, we’d need to determine an alternative location for all the regional waste currently disposed of there,” Žuromskas added.

On 24 March, Elektrėnai District Mayor Gediminas Ratkevičius declared a state of emergency in the municipality due to pollution from the landfill. The move followed a decision to cover the 14,000 tonnes of semi-burnt waste, which had arrived after a fire at the Energesman waste treatment facility. Earlier in March, Žuromskas stated that relocating the landfill was not yet under consideration, with efforts focused on identifying and eliminating the pollution source.

The Kazokiškės landfill is managed by the Vilnius Region Waste Management Centre (VAATC), which has accelerated a project to cap the site and expand its gas collection system to reduce odours. An automatic air quality monitoring station has also been installed at the landfill to track environmental parameters.