Dienvidkurzeme expands biological waste processing

More biological waste is being processed in the Dienvidkurzeme region, where the Liepājas RAS waste processing landfill produces biogas, electricity and compost, LSM reported.

Residents are increasingly sorting biological waste, and the amount collected is gradually rising. However, most such waste still ends up mixed with household waste. Some apartment buildings, including those in Liepāja, have improved their waste sorting, helping to reduce costs.

The amount of garden waste delivered to the biological waste processing plant has recently increased, according to production specialist Pēteris Dovgvillo. Liepājas RAS is currently running a campaign allowing residents to deliver garden and park waste free of charge at sorted waste collection sites in Grobiņa and Liepāja.

The campaign accepts grass, weeds, leaves, houseplants, and branches from shrubs and trees no more than two centimetres in diameter and 50 centimetres long.

“We are standing beside separately collected garden and park waste. As we can see, it is a good mixture of leaves, branches and apples. This mixture is one of the streams we process through fermentation in the tunnels, producing biogas and compost,” Dovgvillo said.

The production specialist showed two piles of compost. One contained clean, dark compost that can be produced only from well-sorted biological waste and can be used to grow flowers. The other had been extracted from household waste and contained heavy metals because residents still throw items such as batteries into household waste. That compost is used for the landfill’s own needs.