The operator of the Vilnius waste sorting plant, “Energesman”, has appealed to the Regional Administrative Court, seeking to annul the decisions of the Vilnius Municipal Emergency Operations Centre (ESOC) and the Head of Emergency Operations (ESOV), which allowed the company’s activities to be completely suspended and taken over by other market participants.
“Energesman” filed the complaint with the Vilnius Chamber of the Regional Administrative Court on Monday, 3 August.
In July, ESOC and ESOV adopted decisions that effectively reorganised the waste management system in the Vilnius region – reallocating responsibilities among market participants and establishing waste incineration priorities that prevented “Energesman” from sending sorted waste for incineration.
The complaint emphasises that ESOC and ESOV had no authority to interfere in commercial activities or make such decisions. In the event of a municipality-level emergency, neither the centre nor its head has the authority to intervene in commercial relations. However, this is precisely what happened. Intervention in commercial relations is permitted only in the event of a state-level emergency.
“The disputed decisions artificially halted all activities carried out by ‘Energesman’ and effectively set the stage for waste to accumulate at the MBA facility. For example, the Vilnius cogeneration plant was instructed to give priority to waste delivered by ‘Ecoservice’ and ‘Ekonovus’. At the same time, ‘Energesman’ was still required to accept and sort waste but could no longer send all of it for incineration, as the plant was occupied with waste from the companies given priority, as well as waste brought in from other regions. This created artificial obstacles to clearing the accumulated waste from the MBA facility,” says Algirdas Blazgys, Director of “Energesman”.
Overall, around 55% of the waste stream delivered to the MBA facility consists of combustible waste, which was previously sent to the Vilnius cogeneration plant for incineration. Once this option was blocked, “Energesman” was forced to accumulate waste at the MBA facility.
A. Blazgys also points out that the ESOC and ESOV decisions were adopted without the participation of the MBA operator, “Energesman”, in the meetings:
“We asked to participate, present the actual situation, share our insights and propose solutions, but our requests were not taken into account.”
“Energesman” and the MBA facility it operated are an important link in the waste management system of the Vilnius region. Under its MBA operating contract, “Energesman” accepted mixed municipal waste from all eight municipalities in Vilnius County and sorted it at the MBA facility. Metals, paper, plastics, glass and other recyclable materials were separated from the waste, along with waste unsuitable for recycling. Some of the processed waste is used to generate energy, with combustible waste being sent to the Vilnius cogeneration plant for incineration.
The companies that took over waste acceptance, processing and the transfer of waste for incineration from “Energesman” – “Ekonovus”, “Ekobazė” and VAATC – still do not hold the permits required for these activities.
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