Vilnius council member gathers signatures to call emergency meeting over waste crisis

Vilnius city council member Aleksandras Nemunaitis has collected the required signatures to initiate an emergency meeting of the capital’s council to address the waste management crisis in the Vilnius region, LRT reports.

Nemunaitis told BNS on Monday that he had already secured 17 of the necessary signatures, with a few more still expected. “The letter is dated today, and I will register it late this evening,” he said. Under council rules, an emergency session can be called if at least one-third of members—17 in total—support the motion.

Once the required signatures are submitted, Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas will be obligated to convene the meeting within two weeks of receiving the formal request. Nemunaitis stated that the council has pressing questions about cooperation with the opposition and expects written responses from the administration, including a detailed action plan within ten working days.

He expressed scepticism about Benkunskas’ claims that the waste management costs and processing would remain unchanged despite the crisis. “We need to see preliminary agreements, commitments, and discussions about prices—what the costs will be, even if ‘Energesman’ refuses, what others will charge to transport the waste,” Nemunaitis said.

The waste crisis in the Vilnius region emerged after a fire at the Vilnius waste sorting plant last year. The facility has not resumed full operations, and the Vilnius cogeneration power plant has reduced its waste incineration capacity. The Vilnius Regional Waste Management Centre (VAATC) announced on July 10 that it was terminating its contract with “Energesman,” which had filed a request with the Vilnius Regional Court to suspend the termination. The court rejected the request on Monday and began the process of transferring the plant’s equipment, though access to the site was reportedly obstructed.

Last week, VAATC filed a lawsuit with the Vilnius District Court, seeking to compel “Energesman” to hand over the plant’s operations. The centre also reported potential criminal activity by the plant operator to the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Environment Minister Ieva Andriulaitytė stated that a state-level emergency has not yet been declared, but waste incineration capacities will be increased. Meanwhile, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, did not rule out the possibility of declaring a state-level emergency.