Havířov and Karviná are tackling the problem of mixed municipal waste, which from 2024 will no longer be able to be landfilled without treatment. The cities have therefore teamed up with Veolia, which produces heat for the region and also deals with waste management. The cooperation was confirmed today in Havířov in the form of a memorandum. Through working groups, they will begin to prepare a project to ensure efficient and environmentally friendly use of waste while preventing uncontrollable increases in payments to residents.
Havířov and Karviná produce approximately 24,200 tonnes of mixed municipal waste, 7,700 tonnes of bulk municipal waste and 2,600 tonnes of separated municipal waste (paper, plastic, glass) annually. The global trend is to use waste as much as possible and both Havířov and Karviná want to be among the leaders in this area. However, in order to use the waste efficiently and environmentally, it is necessary to build a sorting facility for mixed municipal waste and the re-sorting of secondary raw materials.
Both cities are motivating their citizens to sort waste and are still adding options for sorting, but this is not enough for the future. "At present, we do not have a comprehensive waste management solution in our region that meets the future obligations of municipalities. We want to be ready and build the necessary technologies in time to protect residents from high payments for waste disposal," said Havířov Mayor Jana Feberová.
"We are aware that landfilling on the scale it is today will no longer be possible. So we need to make sure that we find an environmentally friendly solution for waste sorting and disposal in time to comply with the new legislation. We must therefore find a way to use the residual waste to the benefit of all. The logical solution is to cooperate with Veolia, which produces heat for Karviná and Havířov," added Karviná Mayor Tomáš Hanzel.
"We are ready to effectively help cities with the problem of municipal waste. As part of the update of our concepts and the greening of heating plants, we plan to use solid alternative fuels generated from municipal and other waste at our facilities," said Josef Novák, member of the Board of Directors of VEOLIA CZECH REPUBLIC and CEO of Veolia Energie ČR. In this way, further unnecessary traffic burden can be avoided, which would occur if each city were to build its own facility," added Milan Chromík, Director of Veolia Waste Utilization CR. However, the specific location and overall solution will only emerge from further negotiations and analyses.
The Memorandum was approved by the councils of both cities. After the signing, working groups will be formed to jointly seek the most appropriate solutions and technologies for the benefit of the region's residents. The final output will be a joint statement summarising the conclusions and possibilities for further cooperation between the parties. Other cities and municipalities or business entities may join the project, which could further streamline the project.
