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Luminor Bank has granted 8.7 million euros for the construction of refuse-derived fuel regeneration facilities in Ventspils. It is the first environmental project of its kind in Latvia and the only one supported in the 2014–2020 Programming Period under the EU funding programmes. The project will be implemented by SIA “Ventspils labiekārtošanas kombināts”.
The total cost of the project is 21.9 million euros; the loan granted by Luminor will be used mainly for the purchase and construction of equipment. The project is also co-financed by the European Union.
“While others are still figuring out how to implement EU Regulations to protect, improve and preserve the quality of the environment, promote circular economy principles and use resources as efficiently as possible, “Ventspils labiekārtošanas kombināts” is already implementing its first project, which will be the first of its kind in Latvia. This will promote efficient waste management in Ventspils and support Latvia’s goal of reducing landfill waste. We are glad to be part of this initiative, as support for environmental, sustainability and energy efficiency projects is now one of the bank's priorities,” says Ilze Zoltnere, Head of Luminor Corporate Department in Latvia.
The project envisages incineration of fuels derived from unsorted municipal waste with energy recovery, returning the energy contained in the waste to the national economy in the form of heat and electricity, and reducing the volume of waste to be landfilled.
“The project is important not only for the Ventspils waste management region, but also for neighbouring waste management regions and the industry as a whole. Over the last 3 years, in close cooperation with Ventspils City Municipality, we have been preparing for the construction of a waste regeneration facilities and the installation of cogeneration equipment to start generating heat and electricity. Luminor funding is an essential support for us to implement the project. New cogeneration plant will allow to cease the operation of the coal boiler, which partially provides heat and technological steam production in the existing boiler house, thus completely abandoning the use of fossil fuels in Ventspils, as well as reducing the amount of waste going to landfill,” says Gaitis Celms, Chairman of the Board of SIA “Ventspils labiekārtošanas kombināts”.
The European Union has agreed on stricter requirements for the recycling and reuse of waste, setting a target for Member States to reuse or recycle 65% of municipal waste and to landfill only 10% of waste by 2035.
Currently, less than 50% of municipal solid waste in Latvia is recycled, and most of it is landfilled. One option for recycling waste is energy recovery, which means setting up incineration plants with a high level of efficiency. At present, there are no specially built waste incineration plants in Latvia, while Estonia and Lithuania already have large plants.