A portion of the waste collected in the Vilnius region, previously sorted by UAB Ecoservice, will now be handled by the operator of the Vilnius Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) plant, Energesman. The companies have agreed that due to the fire, production and cemetery waste will be temporarily redirected to this plant – approximately 220 tons of waste per month.
To accommodate the increased waste flow, the Vilnius Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant has extended its working hours – it will now operate on Saturdays and during public holidays to ensure all waste is sorted and properly processed.
“We are ready to assist our neighbours in distress – we are located just a kilometre away and have all the necessary equipment and capacity to accept the waste that the ‘Ecoservice’ team cannot process at the moment due to the fire-damaged equipment,” says Algirdas Blazgys, director of Energesman.
The Vilnius Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant processes mixed household waste from eight municipalities in the Vilnius region – sorting recyclable secondary raw materials such as glass, plastics, paper, and metals, and also prepares solid recovered fuel from the waste. The plant is situated in the same area near Gariunai, where Ecoservice and the Vilnius Waste-to-Energy Plant operate.
“We are prepared to accept and process all plastic waste that ‘Ecoservice’ collects from plastic sorting containers in the Vilnius region. We have all the necessary equipment to sort plastics by composition, separate recyclable types of plastics, and prepare them for further processing if the company finds they need assistance in this area as well,” says Blazgys.
The waste will be managed until Ecoservice restores its burned sorting lines or finds other solutions to continue fulfilling its commitments to manage the collected waste.
Last year, the Vilnius Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant sorted and processed 218,600 tons of various wastes that residents disposed of in mixed waste containers. From this waste, 12,500 tons – or 6% of all waste – of secondary raw materials such as glass, plastic, paper and cardboard, and metal packaging were selected and later sent for recycling.
The plant also produced 130,000 tons of solid recovered fuel, which was used by cogeneration plants in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda to heat homes and generate electricity.
Currently, the Vilnius region’s mechanical and biological treatment plant employs 114 workers. On average, 150 waste trucks deliver household waste daily from across the Vilnius region, which includes eight municipalities: Vilnius city and Vilnius district, as well as Trakai, Elektrenai, Ukmerge, Svencionys, Salcininkai, and Sirvintos districts.
Due to the increased workload, the company plans to temporarily increase the number of employees in the near future while managing the waste brought in by Ecoservice.