New technologies and the ecologization of waste management

David Melichar, jednatel firmy SMOLO Services, s.r.o. BUSINESS New technologies and the ecologization of waste management Changes and development in waste management will soon become an issue for the region as a whole as well as for its individual municipalities. If waste disposal sites and landfills are replaced with suitable solutions, citizens will not pay for environmentally-friendly measures. Otherwise, fees for waste management may increase rapidly. There is a law to introduce strict limits on landfills of municipal solid waste in six years. In the Czech Republic there are only four waste incineration plants whose capacities will not cover the prospective need. The region, its municipalities, and waste management companies are now seeking both environmentally-friendly and economical solutions. The issue which technology investors are facing is an absence of long-term policy in waste management, and insecure legislation. “The region is a few steps behind,” says David Melichar, executive at SMOLO Services. What is the price for a citizen? If municipalities and the region do not solve the necessary change of waste management in time, the municipal solid waste might end up at landfills from 2024 but only if processed accordingly beforehand. Such a treatment will make disposal costs increase rapidly, and the price will be paid by the final customer, i.e. the municipalities and their citizens. Timely rearrangements in recycling systems in the homes, however, will have a positive effect on the final price of the service in municipalities. The introduction of new technologies and the ecologization of waste management is supported by international businesses who want to become positive examples and more than ever before show their responsibility to the planet. “A global furniture chain demands their suppliers guarantee maximally ecological waste management during production. We can do it and ecologization is our top priority, therefore more and more Czech companies ask us to produce tailored solutions for them. Nowadays we are preparing a project for the further ecologization of waste management for KOVONA SYSTÉM in Český Těšín, who also supply a famous Swedish furniture company with their products,” Mr Melichar adds. Small steps sum up in a big leap: Mr Melichar is convinced that the that ecologization of the region requires that even the small individual steps will have a huge impact only after being summed up. That is why the company invests in new technologies and machinery. “At the moment our fleet includes new CNG fuelled vehicles. This will help decrease nitrogen oxide emissions, a typical product of standard vehicles running on diesel. Our demolition and recultivation jobs are now done with machinery with reduced noise level,” Mr Melichar adds. Waste management is a creative and interesting field which has recently changed considerably. It is getting more complicated as well as truly creative. The companies in this field must think about and plan new strategies and technologies carefully and well in advance. “And we do enjoy that,” says Mr Melichar. “The SMOLO Group is prepared for large scale investments in new facilities. Our vision is to participate in the introduction of technologies that will solve the issues of municipal solid waste in the region from 2024 from the viewpoint of ecologization. I am a Silesian patriot and I am happy to face the changes and challenges coming in the sense of ecologization. Smolo is a purely Czech company that manages local waste without any financial assistance from abroad. We live in the Moravian-Silesian Region and the quality of our environment must be our priority,” concludes Mr Melichar. POSITIV ǀ 2/2018 51