Lithuania’s waste targets under scrutiny as government ponders CHP decision

The Lithuanian Parliament Committee on Environment Protection has suggested that the Government should adopt a final decision on the construction of waste-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Vilnius and Kaunas only after the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy is adopted, scheduled to be at the end of the year. 

The committee also advised that the government should carry out additional projections on waste volumes available by 2030. Alternative waste treatment options, including the option to incinerate recovered solid fuel, industrial waste and sewage sludge at the Akmenes cement plant, should also be considered, according to the committee.

Akmenes Cementas had presented its plans to invest EUR7m of own funds in modern equipment that would replace coal used with waste fuels. Up to 150,000tpa of waste would be incinerated. The cement producer requested the government to guarantee that it would be possible to use waste produced in Lithuania. The use of waste would enable it to cut costs and fully compete in international markets, said the company.

The European Commission (EC) recently warned Lithuania that if it builds two new CHP plants in Vilnius and Kaunas, the country might fail to meet its waste recycling targets in 2020. The EC believes that the optimal amount of municipal waste that may be incinerated in Lithuania is 20-25 per cent.

Lithuania’s Parliament had received conflicting data on waste volumes suitable for incineration in Lithuania. The Ministry of Environment estimates that Lithuania is expected to produce 1.3Mt of waste between 2020-30. However, the Ministry of Environment had put this figure at 4.6Mta. Moreover, Parliament also pointed out that cost-and-benefit analysis of the planned CHP plants has not been carried out.