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State of the Environment in Riga 2001
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  Waste management 

DISPOSAL IN GETLINI DUMPING SITE


The City of Riga has one landfill for the disposal of household waste in Getlini, which is located 15 km from Riga. In 1970 the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR from the State Land Reserve Fund granted 79.9 hectares in Getlini to the City of Riga for establishment of a new landfill, which started to function in 1972. 36 hectares are used for waste disposal, the rest of the area is the economic area with a registration building, administrative building, cloak-rooms and engineering workshops, waste sorting and composting areas, as well as a free territory, which is envisaged for the establishment of a new landfill. Today about 300-400 trucks enter the landfill and take in approximately 1280 tons of waste. The amount of waste disposed in Getlini landfill per year is shown in Figure 13.

 

Sorting of waste is also carried out in Getlini in the result of which recycled raw materials are obtained. Thus, for instance, in 2000 the total amount of household waste constituted 1,017,833 m3, i.e., ~ 223,934 tons. The total amount of the sorted household waste was ~ 12,706 tons.

 

Project on Getlini landfill remediation and continuation of the work

 

Getlini landfill was established in the existing swamp, without the isolation needed for the protection of the ground water. Signs of pollution in aquifers, complaints by the population about the pollution of water, soil and air were the reasons for looking for a new disposal site and for developing a project for remediation of Getlini landfill.

 

The World Bank supported financially the solution of this problem. Searches for a new place lasting for several years lead to the only decision - to remediate the Getlini landfill by cleaning the surface and ground waters, establishing gas recovery in the existing waste disposal part, re-cultivating the existing disposal site and continuing disposal of waste in the free section of the landfill, establishing bio-cells for gas recovery, which could be used for electricity and heat production.

 

In 1996 the Riga City Council announced a tender for the project on research and feasibility studies for remediation and further use of Getlini landfill. The Swedish company "SWECO" won the tender and the financing was provided by the Swedish International Assistance Agency (SIDA). In the result project proposals were drafted for remediation and reconstruction of Getlini landfill.

  1. prevention of hazardous effects of the existing disposal site upon the environment:

    * reduction of infiltration formation, covering the existing disposal site,

    *  collection and purification of infiltration and polluted ground water,

    *  gas recovery in the disposal site and its use in the national economy, preventing stenches, accidental fires, explosions and reducing the greenhouse effect caused by methane

  2. further disposal of waste in bio-cells with forced gas production in them and use in the national economy
  3. use of productive technology in the disposal site for performing various tasks
  4. supervision of the activities of the disposal site and its effects upon the environment
  5. reduction of dust and noise
  6. registration of the waste taken in
  7. strict control of the waste taken in, preventing disposal of the hazardous waste in the disposal site

Implementation of the project is financed by the World Bank - 7.95 mill.USD, Riga City Council - 6.0 mill. USD interest-free credit, donation from the Government of Sweden - 1.5 mill. USD and Getlini-EKO Ltd. investment - 4.64 mill.USD. The total amount constituted 25.21 mill. USD.

 

Planning the remediation and continuation of activities in Getlini landfill, it is envisaged to establish altogether 36 bio-cells. It has been calculated that approximately 450 million Nm3 gas will be produced in these sections. When the system will be fully implemented and will function without interruption, there will be approximately 26 million Nm3 of gas produced yearly.

 

The total gas production from the disposal site and power section is calculated in the amount of 640 million Nm3 gas. The content of methane in gasses will be 50 - 55%, return power from the gas - approximately 5 kWh/ Nm3.

 

It is planned that Getlini landfill shall function until 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

This page was last updated: 2003.03.31.