Elektrėnai municipality turns to prosecutors over waste disposal at Kazokiškių landfill

Elektrėnai municipality has filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, asking it to assess the legality of decisions by the Vilnius Region Waste Management Centre (VAATC) and the Vilnius city emergency operations chief that redirect all mixed municipal waste from the Vilnius region to the Kazokiškių landfill, LRT reports.

The municipality states the decision, effective from Monday, was taken without consulting Elektrėnai representatives and without evaluating the potential consequences for residents and the environment. Last week, Elektrėnai municipality appealed to Vilnius city municipality, VAATC, the Ministry of Environment, the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) and other institutions, urging them to suspend the decision and proposing alternative waste management solutions.

The municipality-owned company Elektrėnų komunalinis ūkis has also announced it will not comply with the VAATC directive, citing doubts about its legal basis.

On Tuesday, NKVC will hold a meeting of responsible institutions at Elektrėnai’s initiative to address the situation.

The decision to temporarily redirect all mixed municipal waste from the Vilnius region to Kazokiškių landfill was made after operational disruptions at the mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant operated by Energesman, which had made it difficult to accept mixed municipal waste from all eight VAATC region municipalities.

Eglė Bernotavičienė, head of the Waste Management Division at the Vilnius City Municipality Administration, said the measure is temporary and follows recommendations from responsible institutions until waste acceptance at the sorting plant is stabilised.

Elektrėnai Mayor Gediminas Ratkevičius argued that decisions by the capital’s municipality should not apply to other municipalities and did not rule out the possibility of refusing to allow unsorted household waste into the Kazokiškių landfill.

Last week, VAATC terminated its MBT equipment operation contract with Energesman. The company claims it fulfilled the contract properly, called VAATC’s decision unlawful, and announced plans to challenge it in court.

An emergency situation due to pollution at Kazokiškių landfill was declared by Elektrėnai District Mayor G. Ratkevičius on March 24 and remains in effect. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) stated that VAATC had failed to comply with an obligation to stop the ongoing excessive hydrogen sulphide pollution at the landfill. EPD had intended to refer the case to the prosecutor’s office for enforcement of the mandatory order.

At the end of March, the mayor also announced a decision to cover 14,000 tonnes of semi-burnt waste at the landfill, which arrived following the cleanup of a fire at Energesman’s waste treatment plant.

Acting Environment Minister Kastytis Žuromskas said at the time that the landfill’s removal was not under consideration, with the current goal being to identify and eliminate the source of pollution.

In mid-June, VAATC told ELTA it was continuing long-term odour and emission reduction measures. The company said about 70% of the eastern landfill slope had already been covered with a special biological layer that neutralises odours and can reduce the release of odour-causing gases into the environment by 70–90%. VAATC planned to complete the covering of the eastern slope by June 30, expand the gas collection system by the end of July, and modernise the leachate treatment equipment by November.