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Energia - ¦rodowisko
Dodatek promocyjno-reklamowy do "RZECZPOSPOLITEJ".
15 listopada 2005 r.
 
European-standard waste treatment
Interview with Teresa Wo¼niak, Director of Public Utilities Department in £ód¼ City Office and Head of Implementation Unit for Cohesion Fund Projects.
| The environmental project of £ód¼ called "Municipal waste management in £ód¼" is one of the first projects in Poland for which the city received a non-repayable grant from the European Union Cohesion Fund. It was launched in 2001 and will be completed in 2006. The project worth 24 770 000 euros will be co-financed by the European Union with 12 98 000 euros. n |
A composting plant, a waste sorting facility and a waste transfer station constructed in Lublinek are the first investments for improvement of the waste management system made in cooperation with the local community. This is an exception if we think about objections raised by the public when it comes to finding a location for waste treatment plants. Teresa Wo¼niak, Director of Public Utilities Department in £ód¼ City Office talks among other things on how this new waste treatment complex came about.
Maybe you could tell us at first about the history of the investment.
  The first attempts to realize this investment were made in the 1960s. Back then we developed an idea on how to solve waste management problems in the city. The only question was how long would it take for the project to be implemented. However, after a meeting with a group of European Union experts we had to modify our project assumptions. The EU specialists told us that we could obtain financial aid provided that we prepare a comprehensive investment programme. In other words, the investment would have to consist of a waste sorting facility, a composting facility and a rest waste landfill. We altered our investment programme and received financial aid from the European Union. However, we also had to comply with requirements set out in the project's Financing Memorandum and in Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build - the so-called "yellow book" of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC). I will not go into details but I would like to underline that among big cities in Poland ours was a pioneering project, and it is now being smoothly implemented. Undoubtedly, the execution of the project was possible thanks to deep involvement of the project team. Now, after a few years, I can say that the FIDIC "yellow book" provides a very efficient system for project implementation, for it is the beneficiary that develops a plan, knows what he wants and how he wants it to be done and the contractor prepares the project and implements it. Such a method of investment realization is cheaper and reduces the possibility of conflict. I doubt whether this investment would have been almost completed now (its last stage - construction of a rest waste landfill - is now being executed) if it had been implemented in a different manner.
In other words, you have paved the way for other investors.
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The FIDIC Yellow Book establishes:
Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build for electrical and mechanical plants and for building and engineering works. In this type of contract the contractor designs and supplies facilities or works which may include any combination of engineering, mechanical, electrical or construction works carried out in accordance with the requirements set out by the Employer. n
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Yes, undoubtedly. However, before we decided to implement the project, we had had to learn FIDIC regulations. At that time there were not many courses available on the market, nor consultants who would provide assistance to beneficiaries. FIDIC allowed us to use the same terminology as European consultants and we understood each other without any problems.
Everybody knows, especially those who want find a location for whatever waste treatment plant, what protests of local residents they can stumble upon - there are many examples. How did it happen that the project was executed in cooperation with the local community?
 It is extremely important to cooperate with local communities on projects for construction of waste treatment plants. Personally, I have gained experience in such public debates on occasion of various other investments. I have also earned experience abroad where we often had to spend a lot of time negotiating location for this type of investments. I have used this experience in £ód¼ where we decided to make visual presentations of all project investments to the inhabitants of the city. We did the same in Lublinek. Then we arranged meetings with inhabitants and members of the local governments. The meetings were attended by representatives of environmental and architectural authorities who explained, discussed and negotiated many issues. As a result of these often tough talks for both parties we have managed, for instance, to improve our waste sorting technology. Many inhabitants raised objections saying that solid municipal waste could contain, for example, batteries or medicines which when disposed in a rest waste landfill would create an "ecological bomb". We have quickly hired a designer who introduced some vital changes into the technology applied in the sorting facility - for example, a pre-segregation process for the removal of the so-called problematic wastes was introduced. Similarly, we have solved the problem of dusts generated by the rest waste landfill which occupies around 9-10 hectares. Some people were worried that waste would be scattered about by the wind. In order to prevent this, we developed a technology which allows to cover individual layers of waste by a pulp of waste paper generated by the sorting facility and to partially press waste (waste compacted into bales). Thanks to inhabitants' suggestions we also have solved the issue of organic waste to reduce its disposal in the rest waste landfill.
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Statement by W³odzimierz Tomaszewski, Vice Mayor of £ód¼, Measure Authorizing Officer for Cohesion Fund projects.
Ecological investments in £ód¼, which are realized with the use of best available techniques, help the city to catch up in the area of environmental protection. They are mainly ecological projects co-financed from national funds for environmental protection. However, at this point, it is important to note that £ód¼ was one of the first cities in Poland which obtained a non-repayable grant from the European Union Cohesion Fund for the implementation of several big ecological projects: "Municipal waste management system", "Wastewater treatment - phase I", "Water supply system and wastewater treatment plant - phase II". The projects, worth 213 million euros, will be co-financed in 50% from the Cohesion Fund.
The objective of the "Municipal waste management system" project is construction of a modern complex for solid waste treatment. Completion of all investment works is scheduled for next year. The project includes also realization of two additional contracts: the first one for selective municipal waste collection and the second one for creation of green enclaves around the treatment plant.
The "Wastewater treatment - phase I" project includes modernization and development of a Combined Sewage Treatment Plant in the £ód¼ Urban Agglomeration and rationalisation of sludge management. Its beneficiaries are £ód¼ and Konstantynów £ódzki. The project, designed to facilitate wastewater treatment and sludge management, will be completed in 2008. Its notable effect will be restoration of the river Ner.
The "Water supply system and wastewater treatment plant - phase II" project encompasses comprehensive investments in the water and sewage system of £ód¼. The project, scheduled to be completed in 2009, will allow for liquidation of numerous cesspools and home wells, where water often does not meet drinking water standards, and will improve the quality of water supplied to households. Moreover, modernization of the combined sewage system will reduce discharges of untreated waste into the rivers of £ód¼.
Yet, the city authorities do not restrict themselves solely to the projects I have mentioned here. By the end of this year we plan to submit to the parliament a draft act commonly called the "waste act". Under the draft act, the municipality would be the owner of waste and it would establish waste collection charges. In my opinion, this would allow for liquidation of many unlawful landfills and, most importantly, it would help streamline regulations in this "dirty" business. n
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Namely, we have installed an additional fine sieve in the mechanical section of the sorting facility. The sieve retains nearly 90% of organic waste which is then transported to the bio-container composting plant. The city's inhabitants closely observe and control the plant's operations. To give you an example, when we once laid a grass lawn on the escarpment we were immediately bombarded with questions on why we simply didn't plant grass.
£ód¼ has now the most modern and the biggest municipal waste sorting facility with the capacity of over 83 thousand tones a year. What will you do to ensure that the plant receives sufficient quantities of solid wastes?
This is one of the most difficult problems which is still practically insurmountable in our country. In £ód¼, for example, there are over 50 business entities which deal with municipal waste transporting. Sometimes you can see several garbage trucks on one street, each of them from a different company. So far in Poland there is no appropriate act on waste management. A company which collects waste becomes its owner and it can freely decide where to dispose it; usually it disposes it where it is cheapest, that is in landfill sites. This should change. Our sorting plant receives municipal solid wastes from a company wholly owned by the city. Moreover, the mayor of £ód¼ issued a regulation under which waste transportation companies should in the first place deliver waste to plants which offer the best treatment techniques. So far we have not encountered problems with deliveries of municipal waste to the sorting plant and other auxiliary facilities. We would prefer, however, that more waste from selective waste collection rather than mixed waste be delivered to the sorting plant. We could also arrange an additional working shift in the sorting plant, should such a need arise.
Finally, do you think that procedures for obtaining EU funds for investments, such as the one made in Lublinek, are too complicated?
In my opinion there exists no project which was implemented without any problems. Sometimes obstacles are posed by unfavourable legal regulations and if this is the case, it is impossible to benefit from EU money which would otherwise be available to us. I think that current procedures for obtaining EU grants are bureaucratised and time-consuming and they ought to be simplified.
Thank you.
Marek Tomaka
Jednostka Realizuj±ca Projekt Funduszu Spójno¶ci
Beneficjent Końcowy - Miasto £ód¼
Wydzia³ Gospodarki Komunalnej UM£
90-447 £ód¼, ul. Piotrkowska 175
tel. (042) 638-48-96, fax (042) 638-49-09
e-mail: [email protected]
www.uml.lodz.pl
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