Väätsa waste disposal site will expand the landfill area

18 November 2010

The Environmental Investment Centre has approved the subsidy for the expansion of the landfill area of the Väätsa waste disposal site. The amount of the investment is 29 896 745 kroons of which 24 878 576 kroons will come as a subsidy from the European Union Cohesion Fund and the rest – as self-financing of the Väätsa waste disposal site. The subsidy allocated to the Väätsa waste disposal site falls under the measure "Extension of the landfill areas of waste treatment centers with landfill areas", the purpose of which is to develop an optimal network of regional non-hazardous waste landfills in Estonia.

By July 2009 all waste disposal sites in Estonia that did not meet the requirements were closed – 10 sites in total. Five final landfill sites for domestic waste remained in operation: Väätsa, Uikala, Paikuse, Torma and Tallinn. Although, AS Eesti Energia plans to open a mass burn plant of waste in Iru in 2012 that will enable to burn up to 75% of the Estonian domestic waste, there is still a large amount of domestic waste left that can neither be burned nor recycled. Based on this prognosis the landfill area of the Väätsa waste disposal site will be filled by 2012, which makes it necessary to expand the landfill area.

The plan is to build a new landfill area together with the necessary communication lines in the framework of the project and the total area of the planned landfill area is 0.9 hectares. Pipelines and pumping stations as well as electrical equipment for collecting leachate and directing it to the waste water treatment plant will be built together with the landfill area. The waste water treatment plant will also be renovated which will enable to decontaminate the leachate and reuse it in the fire extinguishing system to be constructed at the waste disposal site. In addition, a pipeline network will be installed for collecting and transporting the gas that is formed in the buried trash.

The foundation Environmental Investments Centre (EIC) founded in May 2000 is the main mediator of environmental assistance and investments. EIC channels the proceeds from the exploitation of the environment into the development of environmental projects, acts as the implementing agency for the environmental projects funded by the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF) and acts as the implementing agency for the Green Investment Scheme (selling the excess CO2 quota and mediating support). EIC also offers the option to apply for loans for the development of environmental projects.