At the site where part of the waste generated in the Vilnius region is temporarily sorted, growing piles of waste can be seen in the open air.
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Representatives of the Lithuanian Green Party, having received calls from residents, officially addressed the Vilnius City Municipality, VAATC, and the Environmental Protection Department, asking to explain on what legal basis the activity is carried out at this site, what environmental protection measures are applied, and how the protection of nearby residents and the environment is ensured.
“Just a week ago, Vilnius residents were told that the crisis was under control and the waste management system stabilized. However, if the waste piles are simply moved to another part of the city, it is hard to call this crisis management.
The crisis is not under control if it only changes address. Residents have the right to know whether this area is at all suitable for storing and sorting such an amount of mixed municipal waste, whether the existing permits are sufficient for this, and how the protection of soil, surface runoff, and the Vilnelė River flowing nearby is ensured,” says Ieva Budraitė, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Green Party.
According to her, additional questions are raised by the forecasted precipitation in the coming days.
“Residents rightly ask how leachate and surface runoff generated from the waste will be managed in such an area. This is not a minor issue – these are some of the most important environmental questions that responsible institutions must answer publicly and clearly,” says I. Budraitė.
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Former Deputy Minister of Environment Martynas Norbutas says that crisis management should not be limited to just searching for new waste sorting sites.
“From the municipality leaders, we mostly hear about contracts, operators, and legal disputes. But we do not hear appeals to the Vilnius residents themselves. If we are experiencing a waste crisis, why is there no clear call to sort waste more responsibly? Why is there still hesitation to switch to real separate food waste collection containers? Food waste is the main source of odors and biological pollution on hot summer days. The less of it enters the mixed waste stream, the smaller the waste piles and their impact on the environment and people living near waste management sites,” says M. Norbutas.
Residents of Naujoji Vilnia who contacted the Lithuanian Green Party say that the community was not informed in advance about the sorting of mixed municipal waste in their neighborhood.
The Greens say they will appeal to the responsible institutions requesting information on whether the territory at Pramonės St. 141 is suitable for storing and sorting such an amount of mixed municipal waste, what the maximum amounts of waste that can be stored there are, under what permits the activity is carried out, how surface runoff and possible leachate control is ensured, what environmental monitoring is conducted, and for what period this temporary waste management scheme is planned.
The waste management crisis in the Vilnius region arose after a fire in April 2025 at the Vilnius Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant in Gariūnai. Tens of thousands of tons of mixed municipal waste accumulated at the facility, which operated with limited capacity for over a year. At the end of July, after the court allowed VAATC to take over the plant’s operation, part of the waste sorting was temporarily transferred to the companies “Ecoservice,” “Ekonovus,” and “Ekobazė.”
