Waste Management, Aair Pollution, Energy from Renewable Resources in Latvia

600 to 700 thousand tons of municipal waste are produced in Latvia annually. Approximately one half of this quantity can be regarded as biodegradable municipal waste. Management of municipal waste within administrative territories is the responsibility of municipalities. The majority of collected municipal waste and other types of waste is buried in dump sites without pre-treatment. Approximately 40 per cent of collected waste is buried at the Getliņi landfill site situated in the Riga district.
10 to 12 new regional landfill sites for municipal waste and appropriate waste treatment installations are to be established in the Latvian territory in accordance with a waste management state plan (for 2003 to 2012), while the current dump sites are to be closed and recultivated.
According to a survey conducted by the Latvian Packaging Institute, the total volume of packaging waste per year exceeds 100 thousand tons. Pursuant to Law on Natural Resources Tax the tax is levied on the packaging of goods and products produced in Latvia and on the packaging of imported goods and products. The law also provides for tax allowances for business companies participating in the used packaging management programme on a voluntary basis.
Such programmes are carried out by several business companies on their own account. Business companies have also been established with their principal business activity related to the management of used packaging. The capabilities of processing several types of used packaging materials are limited in Latvia, therefore export of used packaging materials to other countries for processing is supported. The system for the collection and processing of used metallic packaging is not developed since the activity is currently not economically advantageous.…