There is no place in Moldova where toxic waste could be stored and destroyed, Vladimir Garaba
“We do not have a place in Moldova where the toxic waste could be stored and disposed of and this is a serious problem,” the vice president of the Ecologist Movement of Moldova Vladimir Garaba told Info-Prim Neo. This creates problems to economic entities and endangers people’s health.
According to Garaba, there is a cemetery between Chisinau and Bubuieci, where the radioactive waste is buried. The toxic medical waste also must be buried and the Ministry of Health has a special place used for the purpose. There is no other dump for storing the rest of the toxic waste.”
“There are large quantities of toxic waste in Moldova. In winemaking for instance, there are large volumes of heavy metals that are dumped in different places, including in the Byk.” Vladimir Garabalso said that the problem is acute as there are only ideas how to process the waste, but no places for destroying them.
“The companies cannot process the waste because they probably do not have money for this. They cannot store them until processing technology begin to be used in Moldova. Therefore, the volume of toxic waste and the risks posed by it increases.”
According to the expert, the mercury is considered the most dangerous, followed by the heavy metals, medical waste, pesticides, etc. “The problem of pesticides is not as serious because they are collected and exported as part of a project financed by international organizations. A solution to the issue of toxic waste would be to export it to other countries, where they are burned or decomposed. But this is a costly process. 5 to 10 euros is needed to neutralize a kilogram of pesticides for example”
Vladimir Garaba considers that this problem must be solved by the government and municipal authorities.
Toxic waste is waste material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment. It can be spread quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The toxic waste usually makes up less than 1% of the total waste collected.