Ecology of region. Georgia

Waste

Waste presents any substances or used materials, which owner distributes, is going to distribute or requires distribution legally.

The waste management system in sphere of environment protection in Georgia has not developed yet. During a regime of the Soviet Union there was no waste law, so the distribution of all kinds of wastes occurred with disruptions. Municipal waste was frequently mixed with hospital, military, nuclear etc.; legal landfills satisfied the minimal requirements. At the same time, the illegal landfills were and still are existed.

The waste placement is the most vexed problem in Georgia.

Known that, 1.3million ton of hazardous waste accumulates entirely in Georgia, this figure does not comprise the industrial, construction, ore-dressing and farm wastes and the information on hospital and radioactive wastes is uncompleted at all. Absence of special storage facilities also complicates this fact, foundation of which would take up a great deal of time and means. No one Georgian region has the segregation territories, and the curtained type wastes are disposed on the ground industrial facilities or nearby land with rough irregularity of sanitary and environment protection standards.

At the same time, existing storage facilities are unsegregated and overfilled. In addition, after dissimilation of collection system waste is being stored at so-called “temporary” landfill sites and in the enterprise premises, e.g. outdated storage facilities of radioactive wastes and pesticides.

In 1992, at the beginning of economic collapse, total quantity of solid waste was exceeded 60 million ton, where 70 % were industrial waste. Up until recently, any reliable inventory has not carried out. In spite of the fact, that on entirely of country fixes so-called “hot” points, it is impossible to get any changes (for the lack of funds), e.g.:

In Zestaphoni (West Georgia)- 7,8 ha of ferroalloy plant territory polluted with silica-manganese scum; 0,2 ha - magnesium scum; 0,5 ha- with silica -manganese dust.

In Khashuri- Natron waste of arenaceous quartz has dispersed over the urban settlement of Surami, by that fact, and pollutes the Suramula River.

In Bolnici, territory of the ore-dressing plant of c/a “Madneuli” polluted with heavy metals that have accumulation of butane features (Cu, Pm, Zn), the total polluted air is 53 ha. Oil refinery territory in Batumi polluted with acid tar (40,000 ton). The plant is situated near the Korolistskali River and is polluted the Black Sea with oil products. It is necessary to notice, that acid tar quantity at 50⁰ C and gets dangerous for public health (cause a leukemia).

The problem is worse in the sphere of consumer waste; majority of landfills do not meet sanitary requirements, and do not segregate, madefy soil layer, and, also do not have any water sample wells; landfills are unsegregated, hereupon the access for domestic animal is open.

Frequently, industrial wastes are located near to the rivers and reservoirs. For example: one of the sites in Tbilisi; sites in Poti and Batumi, which are disposed on the unsegregated sites near to the Black sea; the sites in Gori and Rustavi are enriched by phreatic water, and are the main causes of Black sea pollution.

The following problems, which have already injured to public health, are: the lost radioactive waste and no proper control on the import of hazardous chemicals. In 1993, a nuclear waste package was supposed to have been sent to Russia for disposal three years before (in accordance with normal procedure in the Soviet era), but it returned to Georgia due to the general failure of transportation routes, after that nobody was interested in the box which was left somewhere near the railway cargo station. In 1996, somebody disassembled these outdated nuclear waste packages, aftereffect of that - three persons were injured (two of them fatally).

In Georgia, there were serious problems with former Soviet military bases. In 1997 near Tbilisi, in the military training center (former Soviet military base till 1996), existing in Lilo, nine soldiers received a local irradiation. After the tracer study of the territory the large parameter of a radiating background had fixed, e.g. radioactive sources С₉₁₃₇ and СО₆₀. The accident was localized with assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In Georgia, the Soviet Army left more than 350 bases, the part of them is deserted, and another is the property of different structural organizations. By November 9, 1997 under the order of the President of Georgia was created a public coordinating commission of environmental protection, the purpose of which - to investigate all territories of similar bases. The commission has already revealed some radioactive springs.

As there is no operational site or treatment facility in Georgia for radioactive waste, 800 g of burnt nuclear fuel from the Atomic Research Center near Tbilisi (decommissioned ten years ago) were taken out from country with assistance of the USA and the UK.

It is necessary to note, that in some areas of Georgia there are cases of storing industrial waste in household waste sites that is strictly prohibited. In particular, uncontrolled storing of solid waste is to impact on the environment, and, therefore, it is practically impossible to appraise environmental impact assessment. The problem complicates also the fact, that in the present, the waste-treatment plant is not under the function, when in the past, were the recycling of such industrial wastes, as: textile, paper, glass, tire, nonferrous metals junk, etc.

It is necessary to take into account that, the legislative waste management in Georgia is inadequate.

In Georgia, only two laws act in this sphere.

1. 1. In 1995, the “ waste import and transit” low was based on the main principles of Basel convention (1989) - “Tran boundary transfer and placement control “.
2. In 1998, “export and re-export of ferrous metals and nonferrous salvages and their wastes”.

Problem specific to waste management include the following:

1. The system for collecting domestic waste is almost disrupts. As a result, a great deal of household waste is disposed of privately on streets, yards, or in unorganized dump sites spread throughout housing areas without any consideration of environmental and sanitary requirements. No sites for the receipt of either municipal or industrial waste in Georgia are designed with consideration of environmental requirements. Most industrial waste is disposed of on the ground of industrial facilities or on nearby land;
2. No sites and facilities for the disposal and treatments of radioactive, toxic and other hazardous waste exist;
3. Waste is not segregated, thus any recycling or processing is hindered;
4. Little information exists on the type, quantity of the waste generated and accumulated on sites for their disposal. Gathering and systematization of the data is not accomplished on regular basis;
5. Geological and physical characteristics of existing dumpsites are unknown. Thus, the scale of impact by landfills on surface and ground water cannot be evaluated;
6. No accepted classification of waste has been developed for monitoring, control or effective managements;
7. There is an almost complete lack of personnel in Georgia at both municipal and local level adequately trained in waste management.

Investment Projects:

I. Provide existed waste emissions:

• Waste separation
• Waste conversion for receiving production
• Exploration of production market

II. Create sites for disposal of radioactive, toxic and other hazardous waste

III. Get discounted and preliminary studying of all sites of household wastes (legal and illegal) and then estimates an environmental impact assessment (EIA). After all these actions, provide a modernization (reconstruction) or dissolution order of such disposal sites.

IV. Engineering new sites for waste disposal with due consideration of sanitary standards and requirements, and prepare legislative reform for allocation of the ground area.

It is necessary to build a treatment plant that passes modern standards.