Vilnius mayor blames Energesman for waste crisis, urges regional cooperation

Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas has accused waste management company Energesman of worsening the waste crisis in the capital region and called on all eight municipalities in the Vilnius area to unite and ensure the Vilnius Regional Waste Management Centre (VAATC) takes over control of the waste sorting plant, LRT reports.

According to Benkunskas, after VAATC terminated its contract with the private operator last week due to major violations, Energesman has refused to hand over the facility and continues to accept waste, increasing stockpiles and fire risks.

“The situation is getting worse. The company refuses to transfer the facility to VAATC and continues to accept waste, piling it up and increasing the risk of fire every day,” Benkunskas wrote on Facebook on Friday.

He stated that instead of resolving the issue, the company is publicly defending itself, spreading unfounded claims, and pressuring involved parties. Benkunskas emphasised that the crisis affects not just Vilnius but the entire region, urging all local governments to act together.

“It is important to understand that this is not just a problem for Vilnius city—it is a challenge for the entire Vilnius region. When the waste management system fails, all residents of the region’s municipalities suffer. Therefore, the most important thing now is to unite and act together,” he said.

Benkunskas stressed that VAATC must take over the sorting plant’s management to stop waste accumulation and ensure proper waste sorting and incineration processes in the region.

“Only this way do we have a chance to get out of this crisis and avoid even greater harm to the environment and the residents of the municipalities,” he concluded.

Energesman has disputed VAATC’s decision to terminate the contract, claiming it had fulfilled its obligations properly. The company announced on Thursday that waste sorting at the plant had resumed and that processed waste was again being supplied to the Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant (VKJ) for incineration. It stated that around 21,000 tonnes of waste are stored at the facility, which remains below the 24,000-tonne limit set by its integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) permit.

Meanwhile, the Vilnius city municipality has decided to temporarily redirect all mixed municipal waste from the capital region to the Kazokiškės landfill. This follows disruptions at the Energesman-operated mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plant, which had complicated waste reception 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 reception at the sorting plant stabilises.

Gediminas Ratkevičius, mayor of Elektrėnai municipality, stated that Vilnius’ decisions should not automatically apply to other municipalities and did not rule out blocking the entry of unsorted household waste into the Kazokiškės landfill. Elektrėnai has had a regional state of emergency in place since March due to excessive hydrogen sulphide pollution at the landfill.

Earlier, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), said that resolving the waste management issues in the Vilnius region may require declaring a national-level state of emergency.