One of the aims of the forthcoming Waste Act is the promotion of municipal waste sorting and the efficient treatment of kitchen waste with an animal component, which still mainly ends up in landfills without any use. With its entry into effect in early 2027 or 2028, municipalities should be obliged to separate gastro-waste from mixed municipal waste. In more than twenty Czech towns and municipalities, the collection of this type of waste is already being successfully implemented through the “tridimgastro.cz” project launched by the Energy financial group (EFG), which was involved in the commenting of the new decree. By doing so, it wants to help establish a functional waste system in municipalities. This should not only reduce the volume of waste in landfills, but also contribute to the production of green energy.
The volume of landfills in the Czech Republic could decrease by sorting kitchen waste, or gastro-waste, which normally makes up to a third of the contents of black garbage bins. Instead of landfilling, kitchen scraps from households can be used as a renewable source and processed into green electricity, heat and biomethane (BioCNG). The Ministry of the Environment therefore plans to promote the efficient use of this waste through Decree 273/21 Coll. on the details of waste management. The decree is expected to come into force at the beginning of 2025, while its effectiveness is currently being discussed for January 2027 or 2028.
What should cities and municipalities prepare for?
The energy potential of biodegradable waste can only be utilised in an environmentally friendly way once the waste has been sorted. According to a forthcoming decree to be issued on the Waste Act, Czech towns and municipalities should therefore soon be obliged to introduce a separate collection system for such kitchen waste. Households in particular will be able to participate, as well as other waste generators such as restaurants, school canteens and hospital canteens, if agreed with the municipality.
“It will be essential for municipalities to provide suitable containers with special seals and closures to prevent leakage of liquid components and the spread of odours. These containers, with which we have experience in the ‘tridimgastro.cz’ project, allow the waste to be easily transported and can be hygienically cleaned without any problems,” recommends Ondřej Černý, Director of EFG Logistics.
According to estimates, after three years of mandatory collection of gastro waste in the Czech Republic, approximately 600 thousand tonnes of kitchen waste could be collected annually. However, the decree contains an exception that would allow municipalities to avoid this obligation if they can prove that all this waste is composted by their residents. “Although the same approach is applied in Slovakia, for example, we fear that it could be problematic in the Czech Republic, based on our experience. Municipal affidavits and the distribution of composters to citizens may not provide a sufficient guarantee that all kitchen waste actually ends up where it should. In addition, inadequate control of home composting of animal residues can lead to risky situations such as the emergence of moulds, pests or the spread of odours around houses. However, these problems can be avoided by placing gastro-waste in specially adapted collection containers,” adds Ondřej Černý.
The EFG group proves through the project “tridimgastro.cz” that kitchen leftovers or expired food can be effectively used as a renewable energy source. In the almost three years of its operation, more than twenty Czech towns and municipalities in the Olomouc, Moravian-Silesian, South Moravian and Zlín regions have adopted the sorting of gastro-waste.Thanks to this, instead of landfilling, the recycled waste goes to the EFG Rapotín BPS or EFG Vyškov BPS biomethane stations, where it is processed into low-emission gas, electricity and heat.
“Thanks to the modernisation of the station in Vyškov and the installation of a new biomethane production unit in Rapotín, we are now ready to accept larger quantities of waste and thus contribute to meeting the objectives of the legislation. We are also about to launch new waste biogas plants in our portfolio,” concludes Tomáš Voltr, CEO of the Energy financial group.
EFG Group estimates that from all biodegradable waste, which is produced in the Czech Republic up to two million tonnes, it would be possible to produce BioCNG for approximately 150,000 cars with an average range of ten thousand kilometres or green gas (biomethane) for up to 130,000 households for a whole year.
