A survey commissioned by Ignitis Group and carried out by Spinter Research found that as much as 89% of Lithuanians aim to reduce their municipal waste, even though the amount of waste generated per capita in the country keeps growing — the Vilnius and Kaunas CHP teams are raising public awareness of waste sorting and the circular economy.

The survey found that only one in ten residents admits making no effort at all to reduce waste; women, lower-income groups, and rural residents were more likely to report making a strong effort, while higher-income groups and city dwellers made less effort. According to Eurostat, Lithuania generated 464 kg of municipal waste per capita in 2018 (up from 387 kg in 2005), compared with an EU average of 492 kg, which has also been rising.

Nerijus Rasburskis, Head of Ignitis Group's Heat and Power Solutions Department, notes that the EU aims to sort and recycle as much waste as possible and convert what cannot be recycled into energy, reducing what goes to landfills — yet in Lithuania about a quarter of municipal waste is still landfilled, and factoring in technical compost, roughly half, compared with just 1% in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.

CHP plants that recover energy from municipal and non-hazardous industrial waste significantly reduce environmental pollution by preventing landfill-related methane release and leachate, an important part of the circular economy transition in which industry must also produce more recyclable products and packaging.

To raise public awareness, the Vilnius and Kaunas CHP teams created the educational websites vkj.lt/ziedineekonomika and kkj.lt/ziedineekonomika, explaining how other countries tackle waste management and the role CHP plants play in the circular economy.