Waste is unused and available resource for increasing Latvia’s energy independence, said Imants Stirans, the board chairman of Getlini EKO, the operator of Getlini landfill, in an interview with LETA. He underscored that by implementation of the incineration plant project in Getlini, hot water can be supplied to half of Riga residents, and energy generation is possible from the current waste flow and from the waste already deposited in the landfill.

The Riga City Council has supported development of Getlini territory, expanding the landfill. Can you tell us more about the development plan, what does it include? Have negotiations started about purchase of land?

I should remind the history. In 1998, Getlini was a pilot project before accession to the EU in order to organize waste management. Before that, there were 511 landfills across Latvia, and it was planned to leave 12 of them. The World Bank granted a loan for Getlini pilot project. About USD 20 million were invested by the Swedes, Canadians and the Riga City Council. In line with the project, there would have been no place for any more waste in the landfill by 2016. Now it is 2022 and we are not closed yet. We have revised technologies. The development enabled us to recycle a large part of waste and return it back in the economy. The perspectives set at the start of the project have not come true. We continue work and will do it in the coming five to seven years. The landfill will be filled at some point, therefore, the Riga City Council gave us a task to work on further development.

We conducted a study, analysing all possible development scenarios. Three possible directions were pointed out. First - to look for a new location for a landfill in the Riga region that might serve Riga and 11 municipalities. Second - to expand the current territory, and third - expansion combined with waste regeneration or incineration.

The first variant has been assessed as impossible because of huge costs and lack of appropriate locations. Environment requirements are very strict and there will be also protests of local residents because nobody wants to live near a landfill.

Thus, the most realistic scenario is expansion with regeneration of waste, a plan which has been divided in two parts.

Riga has adopted the expansion plan, but it cannot be implemented yet because Getlini has two shareholders - the Riga City Council and Ropazi municipality. Only after Ropazi adopts it, we can start talks on purchase of land from owners.

In which direction could expansion of the landfill take place?

This will depend on further progress of the waste incineration project. If the incineration project is not supported, more land will be needed. These could be a couple of dozens of hectares. Which direction? We do not have much choice and we will review all possibilities. The problem is that there is a border with railway and road, where no further expansion is possible. There is Salaspils municipality in the other direction where German investors have purchased peat bogs. What remains is the direction to the north and south.

What are the plans on recultivation of the old waste? How will you do it? Will you burn this waste?

No, there is nothing to be burned. It is waste from the 1970s-1990s. Recultivation is planned there. The first and main issue is financing. If we have financing, we will implement this project. These are huge costs, tens of millions of euros. Like tar lakes, it is historic waste, polluted groundwater is moving forward to River Daugava. Not much has been left until they reach the river. If the state finds financing for it, technically it can be done.

The EU has stated that by 2035, the share of household waste deposited in landfills may not exceed 10% of all household waste. It is 14 years from now. Seeing today’s trends in Latvia, is it a realistic goal? What should be done to meet this requirement?

It is an ambitious goal, but also realistic. If there is the incineration plant where we burn whatever we cannot recycle, then this goal is reachable. If there is no plant, then we will not be able to do it. The government’s plan is to build three incineration plants - in Kurzeme, Latgale and Riga. The Riga region with half of the country’s population, creating half of the total waste, needs an incineration plant with a capacity of 120,000-150,000 tons, generating heat and electricity. In that case, we can achieve the EU goal by 2035. Especially after the recent events, such a project is mandatory. Latvia has a resource that we are generating - waste - and it is illogical to just deposit it and not use it. The matter is closely related with the national energy independence.

Today we believe that it is not profitable to recycle polyethylene, technologies are expensive and the product will be expensive, but new ways, new technologies appear in years. The waste that nobody is interested right now, tomorrow might become worth of gold.

Renewable resource like forest is good, but I think that it is better to recycle, burn waste than log trees, make woodchips and burn them. We can obtain much more added value from forest.

How much energy could such incineration plant generate?

There are three possible ways to implement this project - it could be built by Getlini, or by private business or in private and public partnership (PPP). It is unrealistic for Getlini alone because no matter how successful we are as a company, the money needed for the project is over EUR 100 million, and we have no such capacity. What remains is to hand it over to private business or PPP.

I think that the plant could ensure 60-70 Megawatts (MW), which would mean hot water for the whole right bank of River Daugava in Riga in winter and in summer. Electricity would be a by-product - some 15-20MW.

Considering the current energy independence hysteria, this would be a very important project

Exactly. Besides, the resource is already there. This plant could work at full capacity also from the current incoming flow of waste, which has slowed down thanks to waste sorting. The old landfill is a separate story, where there is waste that cannot be burned, but there is waste from 2000-2010, which is good material for incineration. The plant should not worry then about the waste flow becoming slower.

The Environment Protection and Regional Development Ministry has proposed to cut by half the number of waste management regions, transitioning from ten regions to five in order to manage the resources more efficiently. What does it mean for Getlini?

Historically there were 10 landfills built in Latvia, and there was no need for more. When it was planned around 1998-2000, the number of population in Latvia was not like today - then there were 900,000 residents in Riga compared to 650,000 now. The number of residents keeps declining, therefore transitioning to five waste management regions is right. It is optimization, development of strong regional waste management centres.

Are you ready for a situation that you will have to accept waste from a larger territory?

Yes, we are ready to accept waste from a larger territory. Of course, it depends on the future development directions.

You are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers? How do you see development of this business in the future?

We started growing the first tomatoes in 2011. We have plans for growing medical marijuana. This requires different mathematics, different business, different revenue. It is a matter of legislation, when this will be allowed. If legislation allows it, then we will start thinking about it because the process is more interesting than what we are doing now.

A settlement with the Competition Council has been achieved in the so-called Tiriga case in 2021. The Riga municipality had to pay EUR 500,000 in fine into the state budget and Getlini Eko - EUR 385,000 for violation of competition rights. What lesson has been learned from this?

I still believe that this project was logical, viable and economically grounded. The private partner made two mistakes, which made the project fail, of course, apart from political matters because the elections were nearing. Prices may not be increased before improvement are visible. The second mistake was a 20-year term. Estimations suggest that it would be enough with 12 years to return the investments. But there were negative comments on the project, saying that it will be a 20-year long monopoly. What is a monopoly? Show me free market in the waste management business. Does the free market mean that each resident of a multi-apartment home signs individual agreement with whichever company they want? Nowhere in the world there is a free market in waste management business. Also, the current four zones in the city cannot be called a free market.

From the point of view of usefulness and the local government this was an optimal project. The private business invests and organizes the sector, there was a realistic plan, Getlini EKO with its council and board ensures internal control. Unfortunately, the Competition Council destroyed this project. The result was a settlement where Getlini Eko and the local government paid fines. It was a rational decision. If we went to court, Getlini EKO would lose in Latvian court, but we would definitely win in European courts. Would it be cheaper than just to pay the fine, I doubt that.

How is cooperation with other waste management companies going on after Riga has been divided in zones?

We have been cooperating with these companies for more than 20 years. Cooperation is good, waste is being collected. We would like to solve the matter of sorted waste faster, especially in relation to organic waste. I think, however, that with these tariffs as a result of free competition we will not see normal waste management in the nearest time, we will not see underground containers in Old Riga or a sufficient number of sorting fields. The current tariffs of waste management companies is a survival tariff, not a development tariff.

Have volumes of waste changed in the past years?

The matter of waste is simple - it is affected by the economic situation. In the crisis of 2008, when the economy dropped by 30%, also the amount of unsorted waste dropped by exactly 30%. Now the trend is slightly different - the number of people is not growing, and the pandemic also affected the volume of waste. The worse are living conditions, the less there is waste. The level of living is not rising, it is stable, therefore the volume of waste is not increasing, either. Operators are also working on collecting sorted waste. This works well, except for organic waste, where there is no development. We should change the approach fundamentally, restructuring costs. It is more expensive to collect, transport and recycle organic waste, and people have no stimuli. If we want to stimulate this, we should artificially lower prices for collecting organic waste, but increase prices for unsorted waste. Waste sorting is affected by many factors - stimuli, upbringing, traditions, a kitchen of six square meters with six waste bins.

Did you feel the impact of the pandemic on waste volumes, considering that use of packaging increased considerably because of hygiene requirements, as well as use of face masks?

Yes, there were no face masks in waste before the pandemic. But in general, I would not say that the proportion between organic waste, packaging and inert waste has not changed, the main positions are quite stable.

Do you feel the changes in the share of PET bottles after the deposit system introduced in Latvia on February 1?

We do not feel any changes right now. We would like to feel them because the share of glass in organic waste is still high and causing problems.

As of January 10, the tariff of unsorted household waste in Getlini increased by 87%. For how long will it remain the same?

The tariff was increased because of the growing expenses, the EU requirements, the new plant, the growing diesel fuel prices, wages, higher natural resource tax. I cannot tell for how long the tariff will remain unchanged. Normally the tariffs remain unchanged for some three years, but in the present situation it is impossible to predict anything.

According to preliminary data, Getlini EKO last year generated EUR 31.028 million in turnover, up 12.9 percent from 2020, while the company’s profit declined by 49.3 percent to EUR 300,490. What are this year’s plans? What will affect this year’s results most?

Last year’s profit was planned at about EUR 700,000, and, if not for the fine imposed by the Competition Council, this goal would have been achieved. I think that this year we will exceed EUR 40 million in turnover, but I would not like to make any forecasts for profit.