“CleanR Group” plans to take a big step in the field of waste recycling and next to an already implemented project – a plastic processing plant where waste becomes a useful resource – to start a new, modern waste recovery project.
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The group takes care of both the creation of shared collection and sorting infrastructure, as well as educating and informing the public about waste generation and sorting, while developing the basic principle of the circular economy – returning as much of the waste as possible to raw materials or using it as a source of heat and energy.
On March 29, in Ķekava county, we opened the most modern plastic processing plant in the Baltics, in which 5.4 million euros have been invested. Now in Latvia it will also be possible to recycle polystyrene, which we see everyday in yogurt containers, children’s toys, dishes and lamp elements. It will also be possible to recycle ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin) and its compositions, that is, plastic that is widely used in the production of car parts and interior elements – panels, shields, window frames, mirror housings and many others. This plastic is also common in the production of electronic device housings, as well as in the textile and construction industries.
Now the company “Environmental Resources Center” of “CleanR Group” is going to take the next step and make those wastes that cannot otherwise be recycled work for the benefit of the people of Latvia. There is still a lot of waste that ends up in landfills and stays there because it is impossible to recycle it. We believe that by effectively using waste as an alternative fuel that does not need to be imported and whose export does not benefit the national economy, it is possible to solve several important issues and make a contribution to the national economy of Latvia.
Our goals – to create less waste, to sort more, to use waste as raw material – remain unchanged. Therefore, we are currently working on the project of creating the first waste recovery station in Latvia. This will be a modern waste recovery plant that will meet EU best practice standards and incorporate the latest technologies. It will help reduce the prices of energy resources in Latvia and diversify the resources used in energy production.
Local resource for thermal energy production
Non-sortable waste is one of the rare local resources for heat energy production. By regenerating 30% of the waste stored in landfills at the regeneration station, we could reduce the dependence of Riga’s right bank on gas consumption by 25% or 370 GWH, thus more than 100,000 residents of Riga would be supplied with heat. In other words, more than a hundred thousand residents of Riga could “get off the gas needle”.
Another important aspect is that almost 13 thousand tons of waste per year would return to the circular economy, for example in road construction or construction. Namely, most of the ash obtained in the regeneration process, or 98%, can be used in road construction.
Ash can also contain significant amounts of metals and minerals that are a usable resource for recycling. It is an option to replace raw gravel material or concrete products.
No need to bring in waste
Waste regeneration stations do not require specially selected fuel, so a large part of the waste generated in Latvia can be used for regeneration, and it will not be necessary to import it from other countries. Each resident of Latvia already “produces” more waste per year than we are able to process. On average, Latvia stores around 514,000 tons of waste in landfills per year – far too much to meet the goals set by the EU. The capacity of the new plant can convert waste power into energy – electricity and heat – and reduce otherwise non-recyclable waste deposited in landfills by 143 thousand tons.
How much does it cost and how to finance it?
Does the creation of a regeneration station require state funding? No! Although investment-intensive and with a long payback period, equivalent projects in Europe have proven that they can be self-sufficient and commercially viable without attracting public funding. In many places in Europe, these projects are co-financed from EU structural funds, but since all countries, except Latvia and Slovenia, have already built these regeneration stations, this type of support is no longer implemented.
“CleanR Grupa”, as the leading environmental services company in Latvia, has already started work on such a project, however, our capabilities are still insufficient for such a scope. Since March, together with the international audit firm KPMG, we have been approaching investors and looking for experienced partners in the regeneration industry to implement such a project.
What kind of project do we see implemented?
In Latvia, the waste recovery station is planned to be built as an innovative building of its industry with modern technologies, increased safety requirements, socially responsible and careful attitude towards the environment and open to the public. We, the “CleanR Group”, want to implement a project that will be freely accessible to residents and guests in the Ropaži industrial building area, thereby marking a vision for a new factory concept on the Baltic scale – a public building in an urban environment.
In addition to the direct benefits from the construction of the station – saving of primary energy resources (natural gas or wood chips), promotion of Latvia’s energy independence, deferred need for the construction of new landfills, reduction of climate change, 30% of waste recovered and a friendlier heat energy price for consumers – our goal is to create an environment, which gives additional added value to the county and its residents – a sustainable, publicly accessible environment where technological solutions, scientific achievements and examples of good practice converge, which is a new magnet for attracting visitors.
More about the project: irenergija.lv
