The Vinca Landfill

Serbian version

The Vinca landfill is located approximately 15 km from the city-centre of Belgrade in Grocka municipality. The total landfill area currently fenced is approximately 68 ha, while the footprint of the disposal area currently covers approximately 35-40 ha. The City of Belgrade owns the area of the landfill. Gradska Cistoca owns the buildings and equipment at the site.

The landfill is located in a unidirectional valley structure formed by the Osljan brook. The catchment area is approximately 200 ha. The landfill can be reached by a paved approximately 3km-long and 6m-wide access road, which following major repairs appears in good condition.

Present Operational Practices

The operational standards at Vinca have improved significantly during the past years and the landfill presently appears quite well managed and represents the better end of municipal landfills in Central and Eastern Europe.

This reflects a proactive approach of the present municipal operator including issuance of a rulebook prescribing procedures for the access control, weighing, unloading, compacting and cover of waste received as well as for the maintenance of the landfill.

In spite of the improved operating situation the landfill operator will face a number of challenges in the coming years:

• a leachate treatment plant should be constructed;
• extension of the landfill beyond the present site to include the area envisioned in the Master Plan should be implemented in compliance with the EU landfill directive; and
• a strategy for extending the useful life of the landfill should be drawn up and implemented.

Each of these challenges will require both capital investments and specialized landfill management expertise beyond what is available at the present municipal operator.

Environmental Issues

Vinca is located in an hydrogeological area suitable for landfilling:

• the landfill is located within a clearly defined catchment area;
• there is no groundwater extraction in the landfill catchment area;
• leachate from the landfill is discharging into a wetland area, which provides a certain form of natural purification of the leachate;
• the recipient the Danube river has a very large flow, resulting in a very high dilution factor; and
• the landfill is visually screened from surrounding settlements.

Landfill gas can be visually detected at many points on the landfill where it discharges up through water and mud pools and vegetation around the landfill shows limited signs of negative impact from the landfill gasses. Gas sampling carried out in 2002 on the landfill surface and in surrounding areas shows the degradation progress at Vinca Landfill, where the older parts have a lower methane concentration, while the new parts are producing gas with high methane concentrations. The present tipping zone has a potential for producing high methane concentrations for at least 15-20 years.

The lack of leachate collection and treatment and the lack of landfill gas collection result in unacceptable environmental impacts and will have to be addressed in relation to an expansion of the landfill.