In Irkutsk, the technical assignment for developing an investment program for solid household waste disposal was approved. Authorities are discussing more modern solutions, from waste sorting to building an incineration plant, but for now the city must keep burying waste at the landfill, whose capacity is running out fast. Read why expanding the landfill has become urgent and what prospects city authorities are considering.
In Irkutsk, the technical specifications for developing a program for the disposal of solid household waste were approved“Waste sorting, which is widely used in Europe,” noted Deputy Mayor Nikolai Khitsenko. — “In Irkutsk, it is necessary to build an incineration plant with an electric or thermal station, but this requires serious investment. However, organizations that have expressed a desire to invest funds are not making contact.”
For now, solid household waste in Irkutsk is to be buried at the landfill located at the fifth kilometer of the Aleksandrovsky Trakt. The capacity of the areas designated for the burial of solid household waste is already running out. A six-hectare plot was allocated to the municipal unitary enterprise Spetsavtokhozyaistvo in exchange for the land plot in the eastern part of the landfill that had been transferred to the Irkutsk Forestry Enterprise. The municipal unitary enterprise began burying solid household waste in December 2006, expecting the landfill to operate for 9.4 years. However, according to the environmental assessment conducted in 2008, the landfill’s operating life will be exhausted by 2013: recently, the amount of waste sent for burial has increased sharply. If in 2005 the volume of solid household waste delivered to the landfill amounted to 1.5 million cubic meters, in 2008 this figure was 2.2 million cubic meters. The design capacity of the currently used site is about 11 million cubic meters of solid household waste.
The administration of the city of Irkutsk proposes allocating an additional ten hectares from adjacent lands for the landfill for the burial of solid household waste. “We are working for the future and are raising this issue today so that in 4–5 years we do not hit a dead end,” explained Deputy Mayor Nikolai Khitsenko. — “The landfill territory is located in the Irkutsk District, and first-category forests grow on it, so the land allocation procedure is coordinated at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
The Chairman of the Irkutsk Duma, Andrey Labygin, noted that for now Irkutsk, unfortunately, cannot afford acceptable and costly methods of disposing of solid household waste. “The Irkutsk City Duma has decided to issue technical specifications for the development of an investment program that will help us take a comprehensive approach to the problem of solid waste disposal. Scientific organizations will also be involved in the development. In the foreseeable future, disposal will remain as it is now. The landfill will be expanded, and burial will be carried out in accordance with GOST standards.” Reports the press service of the Irkutsk Duma.