The Vaivara Hazardous Waste Management Centre (Vaivara OJKK) is located in the village of Auvere, in the city of Narva-Jõesuu, Ida-Viru County. The facility is owned by the state and will be managed by AS ALARA from 2025. The Vaivara hazardous waste management centre consists of a treatment field and a storage area.
Establishment of a hazardous waste management centre in Vaivara
It was built in 2000. The Vaivara treatment centre has been closed in the meantime (2012-2016) due to lack of an operator. A modern wastewater treatment system was also built during this period. Keeping the Vaivara WWTP in operation is essential to ensure that manufacturing companies and other generators of hazardous waste have a national option for the disposal of hazardous waste. Thanks to the new wastewater treatment plant, treatment is multi-stage and, as a result, the management and disposal of hazardous waste at the Vaivara WWTP is safe for the environment.
Operation of the Vaivara hazardous waste management centre
The Vaivara Hazardous Waste Management Centre is the only landfill in Estonia that accepts and deposits all types of hazardous waste for which there are no alternative treatment options. Although the recovery of hazardous waste is the preferred management option, there are wastes for which this is not possible and safe landfilling is the best management option.
National waste plan 2022-2028 it is stated that the Vaivara hazardous waste management centre disposes of an average of 8209,9 tonnes of hazardous waste per year. The Vaivara hazardous waste management centre has four disposal tips, three of which are full and the last tip is in use. Each disposal tip has a capacity of 30 thousand tonnes of hazardous waste. In order to maintain the state's readiness to receive hazardous waste, an extension of the Vaivara HLW disposal area is planned.