Municipal waste management in Lithuania The President of Lithuanian Municipal Services and Waste Management Association Raminta Radavičienė Taking Waste Management into the future Municipal Waste Europe Conference in Brussels 3 December, 2014
About Association Founded in 1996; 36 members (legal persons) Main activities: waste management, public cleaning, street maintenance, surface water drainage system maintenance The annual turnover of all members in 2013-128 342 637 EUR; In 2013 the members had 4426 employees. The members are acting in the territories of 46 municipalities (from 60)
Lithuania Area - 65,300 km 2 Population 2,94 million (67 % urban) The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties. Counties are subdivided into 60 municipalities Member of EU since 1 May, 2004 1,3 mln. tones of MSW
Statistics
Municipal waste generation and landfilling, kg p/c
Municipal waste treatment in 2012
Municipal waste management service coverage
EUR p/c ISPA/Cohesion Policy Funding for wasterelated projects, 2000-2013 Total: 362.03 mln. EUR European Commission, Funding needs for the Waste Sector. Final Report, 2 February 2011, p. 8.
National waste management plans
Regional Waste Management Systems 10 Regional Waste Management Centers founded and owned by the municipalities of each region (the first in 2001; the last in 2005)
Development of waste management systems Construction of new regional landfills for municipal waste (11) Closure of old landfills and dumpsites (808) Construction of transfer stations (in some regions) (5) Construction of recycling stations / civic amenity sites (CAS) in municipalities (123) Construction of composting facilities for green waste in municipalities (54)
Biodegradable waste management Construction of mechanical and biological treatment plants for municipal waste and containers for separate collection and home composting (151 mln EUR)
MSW treatment infrastructure? Landfill MBT plants Mechanical treatment plant Biological treatment plant WtE plants?
Biodegradable waste management projects Region EU support for MBT, mln. EUR Mechanical treatment, t Biological treatment Containers/ composting Type of biological treatment Alytus 14.4 65.702 20.000 6.000 Anaerobic digestion Kaunas 20.000 10.000 Composting 34.4 30.000 220.000 100.000 Klaipėda 10.5 75.000-10.000 - Marijampolė 10.5 65.000 32.000 14.000 Composting Panevėžys 11.1 86.470 22.000 6300 Anaerobic digestion Šiauliai 6.7 50.000 20.000 20.120 Composting Tauragė 2.7-6.000 47.800 Composting Telšiai 9.5 50.000 20.000 10.200 Anaerobic digestion Utena 12 45.200 15.000 6.000 Anaerobic digestion Vilnius 34,4 250.000 180.000 51.000 Biodrying Total 146,4 927.372 425.000 201.420
Biodegradable waste management projects Key milestones: Regulation on financing conditions March 2010 Feasibility studies in June September 2010 Tendering during 2011-2013 (2-3 times in each region) Contracts for MBT construction signed in 2013 Most of construction permits issued only in September/October 2014 Deadline September 2015
Operation of MBT plants: role of private sector Goal to ensure a level playing field across market participants, to avoid distortions and maximise efficiency Precondition of EU funding: operation of MBTs should be subcontracted New pre-condition for EU funding since 4 March, 2013: tenders for construction and operation of MBTs should be organised together
Quality of Biodegradable waste management projects The quality of MBT projects negatively affected by: the late approval of project financing conditions and a list of state projects short deadlines for submission of applications and feasibility studies problems with public procurement for the selection of external consultants poorly defined and unclear requirements for projects limited knowledge and experience in the creation of biodegradable waste infrastructure the absence of a clear strategy for the creation of biodegradable waste treatment capacities at the national level Source: Evaluation of the Efficiency of the EU Support to Waste Management in Lithuania and Identification of Financing Priorities for 2014-2020 (September 2014)
Possible problems in the future Achievement of WM targets: the reduction of amount landfilled might not be achieved: organic output from MBT cannot be used as compost for agricultural use (quality and application is not clear) limited possibilities for RDF valorisation High operational costs (private operators do not take a risk) Lower incomes from recyclables (effects of deposit scheme and extensive separate collection not foreseen)
Klaipeda Waste-to-Energy plant FORTUM HEAT Klaipeda Total investment: 126 mln. EUR
Klaipeda WtE project overview Technical details 20 MWe 50 MWth + 15 MWth from flue gas condenser Firing capacity : 34 t/h (9 MJ/kg) 230.000 t/a Production 120 GWh electricity 380 GWh heat Key milestones Environmental Impact Assessment June 2009 Start of construction at the site 1.3.2011 First firing by natural gas 30.11.2012 First firing by waste 17.1.2013 First synchronization with the grid 26.2.2013 Inauguration 15.5.2013
RDF at cement kilns Akmenes cementas is investing 101.5 mln into construction of new dry process production line 150 thous. tones of RDF could be utilised
Private sector investment: Sorting lines at landfills
Producer responsibility: separate collection of packaging waste Containers for separate collection of packaging waste + PICK-UP SYSTEM (from individual houses) 240 l for paper/plastic waste 120 l for glass waste Bags + Bring system (from individual houses) for paper (blue) for glass (green) for mixed plastics/metal/ drinking packages (yellow) Contracts between municipalities and PROs
Main priorities and direction in 2014-2020 Reduce amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill; Ensure implementation of waste hierarchy; Expand separate waste collection system; Ensure universality of high quality waste management services.
National waste management plan for 2014-2020 Tasks for municipalities: landfilling of municipal biodegradable waste in 2020: 35 % of 2000 Recovery of municipal waste not less than 45 % of municipal waste by 2016 Recovery of municipal waste not less than 65 % of municipal waste by 2020 Preparation for reuse and recycling of not less than 50 % of municipal paper, glass, plastic and metal waste by 2020 Separate collection of food waste from 2019
Economic instruments Charges for municipal waste: - waste tariff (payment by contract between waste holder and waste management company) - local tax (money goes to the budget of municipalities) Payment under the contract is applied in 1/3 of municipalities; Local tax is applied in 2/3 of municipalities; Tax on environmental pollution with product and packaging waste, administrative liability, other measures laid down in laws (Producer s responsibility principle)
Next steps: Economic instruments Landfill tax (Law on Environmental Pollution Taxes adopted November 2014) Waste 2016 2017 2018 2019 From 2020 Non hazardous waste 21,72 27,51 33,31 39,10 44,89 Inert waste 7,24 13,03 18,83 24,62 30,41 Hazardous waste 47,79 53,58 59,37 65,16 70,96 Deposit scheme for beverage from 2016 (Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste adopted March 2014) PAYT schemes (national methodology adopted in July 2013; come in force in 2016?)
Questions on WM infrastructure and investment needs Waste to Energy plants: State control: state has to own at least 51 % of shares and municipal waste several regions has to be incinerated (February 2014) Lithuania Energy develops projects in Vilnius and Kaunas: selection of partners (18 applications from 8 countries) What capacity? Food waste: Do we need additional investment into biological treatment infrastructure? Where and how to start separate collection of food waste? Separate collection of recyclables and producer responsibility principle
Key issues and lessons learned
Key issues and lessons learned (1) EU funding has played an important role in the development of critical infrastructure for municipal waste management Local and regional authorities are responsible for waste management, but not always directly responsible for the fulfilment of EU targets and obligations Waste management investments were not planned at national level and technological decisions might be not optimal MBT does not necessary ensure meeting EU waste management targets
Key issues and lessons learned (2) Polluter pays principle should be implemented, however tariffs for waste management services are constrained by affordability and political acceptability Application of administration and economic instruments is essential to start shifting waste from landfills Awareness raising efforts and time is needed to increase separate collection of clean recyclables, municipalities and producers have to ensure accessibility of separate collection service
Thank you for your attention For more information: r.radaviciene@lkata.lt