The obligation to sort not only plastic, paper or glass, but also food waste came into effect in Vilnius. And already next year, the residents of the capital will see another innovation. At the time, other municipalities in big cities said whether their residents could also expect changes.
Since the beginning of this year, a new waste sorting procedure has come into force in Vilnius - residents of the capital must store food waste in special orange bags and then throw it into a mixed waste container.
Another innovation awaits
Vilnius city municipalities representative Gabrielius Grubinskas told the tv3.lt news portal that if food scraps are separated from mixed municipal waste, the possibility of waste recycling increases, and the amount of waste entering landfills also decreases.
"Food waste can be turned into natural fertilizer, used for the production of biogas and compost. At the same time, sorting food waste encourages residents to think about the amount of waste generated, to reduce food waste," said the interviewer.
It is true that G. Grubinskas says that already next year (II quarter) in one of the five waste collection zones in Vilnius, the collection of food waste in separate containers will be introduced.
"Underground and semi-underground container sites in this zone will use smaller capacity containers for food waste. Some time after the change, it will be evaluated how the collection of food waste changes and which method - orange bags or separate containers for food waste - works more efficiently", explained G. Grubinskas.
Kaunas has installed containers, promises to expand
Radeta Savickienė, head of the Environmental Protection Department of the Kaunas city municipality administration, told the news portal tv3.lt that Kaunas started collecting kitchen waste separately in September of this year.
"In the courtyards of apartment buildings, there are containers specially designed for the collection of food waste. In the first month of autumn alone, almost 187 tons of food waste were collected. The amount of separately collected food waste increases slightly every month. Biogas and compost are produced from them.
"Kaunos švara" empties these containers in apartment yards 3-4 times a week. Waste collection containers are sprayed with probiotics, thus ensuring the prevention of unpleasant odors. These measures are harmless to people, animals and the environment", said R. Savickienė.
According to her, next year the municipality plans to expand the sorting of food waste to individual holdings. New (120 l capacity) containers for the collection of biological waste will also be issued.
"In addition, great attention will be paid to the composting of biological waste. It is planned to distribute over 10 thousand. pcs composting facilities", promised the representative of the municipality.
Will other cities follow the example of Vilnius?
At that time, Karolina Grubinskienė, Deputy Head of the City Infrastructure Department of the Panevėžys City Municipality, says that currently there is no consideration to change the existing food waste sorting procedure based on the Vilnius model.
According to her, the waste collection system currently operating in Panevėžys is said to be simple and convenient for residents, as it allows the use of various bags for food waste collection.
"Residents can place food and kitchen waste in special sorting buckets, using both used and shopping center bags. In this way, the aim is to reduce the costs of the population, promote recycling and reuse of resources. Currently, the municipality does not plan to introduce single-use bags of a specific color or to impose additional requirements.
In addition, Panevėžys city municipality, unlike Vilnius, collects food waste in separate food waste containers, so there is no need to use bags of different colors", said K. Grubinskienė.
And according to Inga Kubilienė, head of the Environmental Protection and City Management Department of the Klaipėda City Municipality, there is no intention to follow the example of Vilnius, because the city already has separate containers for collecting food waste.
"In Klaipėda City Municipality, food waste is collected from residents in separate collective and individual containers for food waste collection. Food waste is bagged and tied before being disposed of in food waste collection containers.
From January 2025, 1 we do not plan to change the order of food waste collection, as until now, food waste will be collected in separate containers next year as well", said the interviewer.
Regarding the administrative responsibility for non-compliance with sorting rules, Panevėžys municipality emphasizes the importance of educational measures and public information. The main goal is to create a conscious community that understands the importance of sorting.
If changes or innovations in the field of waste management are considered in the future, city residents and all interested parties will be informed about it.
A fine may also be threatened
Although representatives of municipalities emphasize that the most important thing is not to punish, but to inform and educate the public, but administrative responsibility can still threaten.
That is, if the waste management rules are not followed, you can receive a fine of 30 or even 600 euros. It is true that the representatives of the Ministry of Environment have claimed that administrative responsibility could be applied to the residents when they are widely introduced to the new rules.
According to preliminary data, currently about 40 percent Vilnius residents sort food waste, about a quarter of all food waste is sorted using orange bags. Also, according to the representatives of the municipality, there is a tendency to decrease food waste in the waste stream in general.
It is reminded that the sorting of food waste is required by national legislation in order to implement the European Union directive.
Author: Lukas Dulskas, TV3.lt
