Druskininkai to consider emergency as waste storage nears limit

Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas said an emergency situation over waste in the Alytus region will be considered at the end of August, LRT reported, as stored waste approaches the permitted limit of about 3,000 tonnes.

“Waste from our region is not currently expected to be accepted for incineration. In about 30 to 34 days, we will exceed the permitted amount of waste for incineration that can be accumulated and stored. That will be about 3,000 tonnes,” Malinauskas said on LRT Radio on Monday.

He said exceeding the limit could result in “large fines” for the head of the Alytus Regional Waste Management Centre and the institution itself.

“An emergency situation is developing because the accumulated waste could catch fire, pollute the environment and so on. Seeing that we are approaching such a situation, we informed and contacted the Seimas, the ministry and the Environmental Protection Agency. We will discuss declaring an emergency situation at the end of the month,” the mayor said.

According to Malinauskas, the Alytus Regional Waste Management Centre accumulated more than 1,000 tonnes of waste last week.

He said waste incineration had been disrupted because the Vilnius Cogeneration Power Plant was not accepting waste for incineration due to the crisis in the capital, while the Kaunas Cogeneration Power Plant was undergoing repairs.

The waste crisis in the Vilnius region began after a fire last year at a waste-sorting plant in Vilnius. The plant has not yet resumed operations, while the Vilnius Cogeneration Power Plant has reduced the amount of waste it incinerates.

Representatives of the Environment Ministry, the Vilnius Cogeneration Power Plant and waste management companies were due to discuss the situation on Monday.