Taraba Definitively Cancels Plans to Build Incinerator near Dudince

        Dudince/Bratislava, 18 September (TASR) - Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) has definitively cancelled, following an appeal, the construction of a waste incinerator plant near the spa town of Dudince in Banska Bystrica region, which was intended to process 130,000 tonnes of waste per year, TASR was told by the ministry's communications department on Friday.
        According to him, Slovakia, like the countries of Western Europe, is in dire need of modern facilities that convert waste into energy or heat, thereby not only reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill in Slovakia but also increasing the efficiency of energy recovery from waste. However, such facilities do not belong in spa towns.
        "After 2035, landfill disposal in Europe will come to an almost complete end. If Slovakia doesn't build additional capacity for waste-to-energy, we'll be dependent on neighbouring countries as to whether they'll accept our waste and at what cost. In practice, this will mean that neighbouring countries will be heating their towns with our money. These facilities need to be built in Slovakia, but not in spa towns," he emphasised.
        Taraba also added that without modern waste-to-energy facilities, we in Slovakia will not only be unable to eliminate environmental burdens, but we'll also be unable to close landfills that are contaminating groundwater. Sites for incinerators should be located in industrial estates or former chemical factories, where they will have both economic and commercial significance, but certainly not in spa towns.
        "In the case of the incinerator near Dudince [Krupina district], it makes no rational sense to build a plant with a capacity of 130,000 tonnes of waste per year when the entire Krupina district produces only 2 percent of that capacity," added the environment minister.
        Kosice-based company Granya planned to build a facility for sorting and recycling mixed municipal and industrial waste and an incinerator for non-recyclable waste in the village of Hontianske Tesare. The construction of the facility was opposed by both the municipality and its residents, as well as representatives from surrounding municipalities, including Dudince.