Prežigalo: We are not giving up on the incinerator project

Despite frequent complaints and sharp accusations from numerous environmental organizations and many politicians regarding the negative impact of the incinerator on the environment, the head of the Economy Department of the City of Zagreb, Ladislav Prežigalo, is increasingly active and working more urgently on the completion of the technical documentation for the incinerator, valued at around 150 million euros, which is to be built in Žitnjak.

The increasing number of accusations is also evident from yesterday’s expert presentation titled “Technological Aspects of Waste Management” held by the Zagreb County. At the presentation, environmentally oriented organizations, such as Eko 2000, once again launched a series of accusations regarding the harmfulness of the incinerator, especially concerning the financial resources needed for construction. The organizations claim that the cost of recycling is up to three times lower than the costs required for building the incinerator. Prežigalo commented that a positive opinion from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Spatial Planning, and Construction regarding the study for the construction of the incinerator is more than sufficient for him and that he will not abandon the project despite the opposition from individuals.

Prežigalo is currently most focused on the preparation of the technical documentation, which is underway. The documentation precisely determines the capacity, electricity consumption, as well as other parameters, such as filtration and the possibility of utilizing thermal energy, and the entire documentation should be completed by the end of March. After that, Prežigalo says, a location permit still needs to be obtained, which would fulfill all conditions for announcing the tender.

– We plan that the incinerator will burn about 300,000 tons of municipal waste per year and 80,000 tons of sludge. However, an incinerator is always built with a larger capacity than planned because the amount of waste is increasing – said Prežigalo. There have been numerous debates regarding the selection of the location. We have considered and examined two locations for the construction of the incinerator. One is in the area of Toplane, and the other is this one, in Žitnjaku. We must keep in mind that after we build the incinerator, we will be transporting 500 trucks of waste and sludge with a very unpleasant odor to it every day. We cannot transport that waste via routes that would further burden Zagreb’s traffic.

With the construction of the Homeland Bridge, we will transport waste along that route, so Žitnjak is the most favorable location for building the incinerator – says Ladislav Prežigalo. He emphasizes that despite numerous accusations from various green organizations, the problem of waste disposal in Zagreb must be resolved. The key reason for this is that waste can be disposed of at the Jakuševac landfill until 2012. The problem of waste disposal must be resolved by then. – There are already 13 million cubic meters of disposed waste at Jakuševac, and between 1.5 and 2 million tons can still be disposed of – says Prežigalo.

Regarding the accusations from environmentally oriented organizations and their lawsuit against the Administrative Court in Zagreb because the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Zagreb incinerator was made without public participation, Prežigalo comments: – Of course, the public participated. Who would then send comments if not the public? If someone from the green organizations has a better solution to the problem of Zagreb’s waste, they are welcome to present it, but I personally believe there is no better solution – concludes Prežigalo.

There was no plan for the incinerator in Dioki

The media once mentioned the possibility of Dioki becoming a waste incinerator. The CEO of Dioki, Vladimir Šelebaj-Sellier, stated four years ago that Dioki could become an incinerator because the infrastructure has already been built, it is well connected to all parts of the city, and Dioki’s employees are familiar with how to handle hazardous chemicals. The head of the Economy Office, Ladislav Prežigalo, says he is not aware of this possibility nor that such a plan existed. Recently, a delegation from the Zagreb City Administration visited several incinerators in Paris.

Of those, two are operational and one is under construction in the very center of Paris on the Seine River. During the official visit, Prežigalo had the opportunity to talk with prestigious companies that built incinerators in Paris, namely CNIM and Von Roll Inova, as well as with the world-renowned company Suez Environment, which manages incinerators. The French company CNIM is a leading company in thermal waste treatment technology and converting the obtained energy into electricity. Over 40 years, it has built a total of 133 incinerators worldwide with 224 waste incineration plants. Twelve incinerators are located in Paris and its surroundings. In 2005, CNIM achieved a turnover of 615 million euros. CNIM owns its technological solutions but has also acquired other companies and possesses their solutions, e.g., Alstom.

All CNIM’s incineration solutions, for example, the Martin GmBH grill, are proven technologies. A direct competitor to CNIM is the Swiss company Von Roll Inova. The mentioned company is building Isseana, one of the largest incinerators in Paris. This is an incinerator worth half a billion euros located in the very center of the French capital. Suez Environment is a global giant that manages incinerators in the part of its business related to environmental protection. Prežigalo emphasizes that we will certainly need incinerator management services, although they are quite expensive.

– Since we do not have enough knowledge in incinerator management, we will have to buy know-how regarding the temporary management of our incinerator for the time being. In the meantime, we will train our people so that they can manage independently in the future. In the end, Prežigalo emphasized that the incinerator would be economically profitable, specifically that there is no incinerator that operates at a loss. (Ana Marija Ruždjak)