Rubbish covered lake brings to light Balkans waste problem

[Stevicus]

Rubbish-covered lake brings to light Balkans waste problem (apnews.com)

PRIBOJ, Serbia (AP) — Trucks and building machines are parked on a river dam in southwest Serbia but not for construction work. Instead, huge cranes are being used to clear tons of garbage crammed at the foot of the power plant.

Serbia and other Balkan nations are overwhelmed by communal waste after decades of neglect and lack of efficient waste-management policies in the countries aspiring to join the European Union.

Burning rubbish dumps can be seen from the roads, plastic bags are hanging from trees and islands of waste are floating down the region’s rivers. The problem usually comes into focus in winter, when swollen waters sweep over landfills, pushing the garbage toward hydropower dams.

This has been the case at the Potpec accumulation lake near the power plant after a spate of rainy and snowy weather in December and early January. The surface of the lake got covered in a thick layer of waste ranging from plastics to rusty metal scraps, tree trunks and even reportedly a coffin.

The garbage has been swept downstream by the Lim River, which feeds the Potpec dam. The Lim originates in neighboring Montenegro, passing through several municipalities and their waste sites in both Montenegro and Serbia.

“Based on a recent study, we found out that in these towns, in the five municipalities in Montenegro and three in Serbia, about 45,000 tons of waste are collected (per year),” said Predrag Saponjic, the Lim River hydropower plant system manager. Looking at the rubbish-strewn lake, he added that “even if only a fraction of that waste ends up in the Lim River, we get this.”

Environmentalists in the Balkans have warned that because most landfills aren’t managed properly they leak toxic materials into rivers, threatening ecosystems and wildlife.

Bosnia too has reported a garbage pileup that endangers the hydroelectric dam on the Drina River, near the eastern town of Visegrad. The Lim is one of the tributaries of the Drina, which makes their waterways — and garbage flows — closely connected.

The article notes that these countries have been trying to recover from the wars and crises of the 1990s, but that environmental issues have been coming last.

While Balkan nations have been struggling to recover following a series of wars and crises in the 1990s, environmental issues often come last for the countries whose economies are lagging far behind the rest of Europe and where public funds are vulnerable to widespread corruption.

The article notes that landfills are too close to rivers and are overfilled.

Jugoslav Jovanovic, from Serbia’s state-run Srbijavode company that is in charge of the country’s water system, put the waste problem down to “our neglect and lack of care.” Landfills are located too close to rivers and are overfilled rather than closed down over the years, he warned.

The article also mentioned that there are dangerous levels of air pollution in the cities. They say that they need to make some major changes and come up with solutions to these problems if they're ever going to be able to join the EU.

 

[Regiomontanus]

Very depressing.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I suggest adding lime to the lake to help kill the stench and also whatever tormented creatures are evolving to eat trash. The lime will help to prevent disease from spreading through the trash/insects and other creatures.

After they lime the lake they can melt most of the plastic floating on top of it using special purpose floating machines equipped with torches or sunlight concentrators (magnifying lenses or mirrors), so that the floating plastic turns into chunks of plastic. It may sink and will at least become more compact.

To design the system they can hold a competition at some of the local university engineering clubs. Let the students come up with systems to automatically melt the plastic together into blocks.

Finally once the lake has been limed and the plastic compacted, they can begin the process of recycling the stuff in the lake and then detoxifying the water. This will all take about 20 years which is not terrible in terms of time, and it could be very inspirational, too.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Very depressing.

It does show the value of recycling.

 

[Brickjectivity]

It does show the value of recycling.

Its pretty shocking. I'd feel defeated if I had to deal with so much trash.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Its pretty shocking. I'd feel defeated if I had to deal with so much trash.

I blame a lot of it on planned obsolescence.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I blame a lot of it on planned obsolescence.

...an unfortunate feature of price based competition since the year 19something. Things are no longer built to last, because that is less profitable for manufacturers than building them to fail. They also can build things to different strengths to take advantage of levels in the market. Some will pay extra for that professional grade (longer lasting) product.

 

[Twilight Hue]

...an unfortunate feature of price based competition since the year 19something. Things are no longer built to last, because that is less profitable for manufacturers than building them to fail. They also can build things to different strengths to take advantage of levels in the market. Some will pay extra for that professional grade (longer lasting) product.

I hate planned obsolescence because its being taken advantaged of well beyond reason.

Cell phones for example that are perfectly fine, are made into worthless trash because some brainac thought it genius to have the battery permanently sealed inside making it worthless after a couple of years because it no longer holds a proper charge.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I hate planned obsolescence because its being taken advantaged of well beyond reason.

Cell phones for example that are perfectly fine, are made into worthless trash because some brainac thought it genius to have the battery permanently sealed making it worthless after a couple of years because it no longer holds a proper charge.

The situation is not hopeless, but we all have different ideas about how it should be changed.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The situation is not hopeless, but we all have different ideas about how it should be changed.

The biggest issues lay with Asia. Most of the world's garbage comes from there.

 

[Brickjectivity]

The biggest issues lay with Asia. Most of the world's garbage comes from there.

I tend to see Congress as the key to everything, but sure we can start with 'Asia'. First we move the US Congress to Asia. Then they fix everything there. Sound like a plan?

 

[Stevicus]

I tend to see Congress as the key to everything, but sure we can start with 'Asia'. First we move the US Congress to Asia. Then they fix everything there. Sound like a plan?

Sounds good to me. Let @Audie deal with them.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Sounds good to me. Let @Audie deal with them.

She only laughs because she thinks we are joking.

 

[Stevicus]

I hate planned obsolescence because its being taken advantaged of well beyond reason.

Cell phones for example that are perfectly fine, are made into worthless trash because some brainac thought it genius to have the battery permanently sealed inside making it worthless after a couple of years because it no longer holds a proper charge.

It's not just that, but they seem to keep making new and better versions, so people feel inclined to dispose of their old phone and get the latest upgrade. They have a box you can put your old phone into, where they supposedly recycle it. But I'm not sure what they actually do with it. Some of this stuff becomes obsolete in just a short time.

I remember an old machine that ran on Windows 3.1. I think it had a 14.4 modem. Those devices didn't break down or suddenly stop working, but as the technology improved and software required more and more memory, the older machines just couldn't cut it.

Then there's printers, where sometimes the ink can cost more than the price of a new printer. Electronics may be cheap, but these inksters have quite a racket going.

So, in addition to phones, there's likely a lot of junk computers and junk printers out there as well.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I tend to see Congress as the key to everything, but sure we can start with 'Asia'. First we move the US Congress to Asia. Then they fix everything there. Sound like a plan?

Its funny we know the major source but....

Most Ocean Pollution Comes From Asian Rivers, Study Says