The Environment Minister is surprised by the reaction to the increase in the landfill tax: in the past, they wanted it themselves

After Delfi announced on Thursday that the Ministry of the Environment plans to increase the fee for a ton of non-hazardous waste disposal from 10 to 50 euros, S. Gentvilas shared a letter of association presented to the Ministry of the Environment and Environmental Protection of the Seimas. Committee in September 2018 on the postponement of the landfill pollution tax.

“In 2015, it was expected that from 2018, the municipal waste thermal treatment facilities would start operating in Kaunas and Vilnius. However, the current situation is such that so far no incineration capacity has been created, and the existing capacity of Fortum Klaipėda (now Gren Klaipėda – Delfi) to incinerate waste is limited and can only incinerate combustible municipal and industrial waste generated in the Klaipėda region. .

Demand for commercial waste incineration has increased in recent years, so other regional waste management centers have not received municipal waste incineration quotas for 2019.

In view of this, review the rates of the environmental pollution tax for waste dumped in landfills and postpone their increase until the construction of municipal waste heat treatment facilities in Kaunas and Vilnius.

Apply a tax rate of 5 euros per ton during this period, and immediately apply a rate of 50 euros / ton when sufficient incineration capacity is created ”, reads the document signed by the president of the Algirdas Reipas association.

Currently, however, Reip opposes the same rate. This is described in the Delfi post. S. Gentvilas was surprised by such a change of position and noted that in the future, landfills in general should remain in history.

On Thursday, A. Reip told Delfi that the situation has changed since 2018.

“There was no incineration plant and they wanted to immediately increase the rate to 50 euros. Obviously, at the moment, if there is no alternative and municipal waste is incinerated, it does not matter what that tax will be.

Now three companies are being built, municipal waste is not incinerated, there are no quotas, in summer there is nowhere to put. Then the law was passed in 2020. The Seimas passed a new one, where it established a gradual increase in the landfill tax. “Now the Minister remembers the story that was 5 years ago, and now the real situation is completely different,” he said.

Aims to reduce to 5 percent.

As indicated in the comment of the Ministry of the Environment, the increase in the landfill tax was discussed in 2018 when considering the modifications to the Environmental Pollution Tax Law; Already then it was proposed to increase the tax on landfills to achieve the objectives of the European Union to reduce landfill waste to 10% by 2030.

“Lithuania plans to pursue more ambitious targets and reduce the amount of waste in the landfill to 5%. It should be noted that at that time the Association of Regional Waste Management Centers of Lithuania, submitting comments and suggestions and speaking at the Committee meeting Seimas Environmental Protection Department, requested that the landfill fee increase be postponed until the waste incineration plants begin operating.

It should be noted that the waste incineration capacity is designed and designed to be used for the energy recovery of classified waste, which cannot be reused or recycled in accordance with the established waste management hierarchy.

The way that waste cannot be recycled or reused, but is only incinerated for energy purposes should not be ignored by waste holders, as there is a higher way to dispose of waste in a waste hierarchy than landfill . To achieve the planned goals, it is necessary to increase the landfill fee as soon as possible, ”said the ministry’s representatives.

They point out that the association, by imposing new additional conditions on the incineration price regulation and opposing an increase in the landfill tax rate from 2023, contradicts their previous position in favor of such an increase in incineration capacity.

“Municipalities and regional waste management centers (RATC) managed by them have every opportunity to encourage the population to sort, thus reducing the amount of waste going to landfills. To this end, support has been provided from the EU Structural Funds for the development of the collection infrastructure, which enables residents to sort waste in a convenient way. Municipalities and the RATC should also be more active in educating the public about the possibilities and benefits of classification, ”the ministry commented.