The Riga-based company wants to grow marijuana – it’s 17 times more profitable than cucumbers 0 11

The main task of the company is waste management at the landfill, after which it is named.

The transformation of the landfill began in the long-ago year of 1997, when resources from the World Bank were utilized. In 2002, a power plant was commissioned, supplying energy to the grid as well as for its own consumption. In 2011, greenhouses were launched, and in 2022, a biological waste processing complex was opened.

The chairman of the board, Imants Stiранс, spoke about the "vision and values" of Getliņi: "This is 28 hectares, unique in that it is the only landfill in the country created on the basis of a dump. Annually — 37,000 tons. Electricity, heat, cucumbers, tomatoes. Revenue in 2024 — over fifty million."

The gardening business on the former garbage hill did not go smoothly — for several years, according to I. Stiранс, there were attempts to close it down. Meanwhile, the company is reducing its management — from 3 board members to 2. The minority shareholder with 2% is the Ropaži municipality, on whose land the landfill is located. More precisely, its legal address: Kaudzišu iela 57, Rumbula, Stopiņi parish, Ropaži municipality. In total, waste is delivered to the enterprise from 11 municipalities.

The enterprise accepts visitors, conducts educational campaigns, and last year it was visited by 8,000 people. "Our first campaign was 'The Dump in Your Yard.' This is part of the so-called non-financial goals, which have all been 'successfully achieved,'" reported Stiранс.

€167.73 per ton? Forget it!

This is the rate for the disposal of unsorted waste for the current year, which will increase by 6% next year, reaching €173.77. Getliņi EKO claims that the reason for this is the increase in the natural resource tax (which constitutes 43.2% of the price). Following are "other operational expenses" (27.2%) and salaries for staff (17.1%).

Reviewing last year's financial indicators, Getliņi noted that the primary source of income was waste reception (€45.5 million), followed by vegetable cultivation (€3.5 million) and energy (€1.3 million).

The natural resource tax has exceeded €19 million for the past two consecutive years. According to Mr. Stiранс, raising the tax beyond the current level will hit the population hard. And in general, if things continue as they are now — the enterprise will simply become insolvent! "We are a dying enterprise," Mr. Stiранс emphasized, naming 2035 as the final year.

It should be noted that subsidies from both the state and local governments for the enterprise are at zero. The landfill is one of the largest taxpayers. But there is one "but" — over the year, clients have started throwing away almost 30% less! The waste administrators themselves believe that this is related not so much to residents as to producers of industrial and construction waste.

– And the situation with biology is quite dire. In 2024, only 14% of bio-waste was collected separately. It is practically impossible to separate incorrectly collected bio-waste from unsorted garbage. Therefore, the compost produced is of low quality.

"There is practically no clean biology"

The landfill manager noted that despite the installation of containers for various types of waste, a large amount of impurities ends up in the biological waste. The solution is proposed to be found in EU funding, which could provide, for example, the creation of a center for educating residents.

– I cannot buy tractors with this money, but — there is funding for education.

Getliņi EKO also intends to diversify its expenses — to install a solar park for self-consumption. Instead of security that patrols the perimeter, certified employees will be able to fly drones over the landfill. And here’s another innovation:

– Medical marijuana is a matter for the Saeima. But when it is ready, we are in negotiations with colleagues from Denmark. Growing marijuana, one can earn €2,500 from 1 square meter, while cucumbers and tomatoes yield €150. Of course, unless the state imposes a 99% excise tax.

Among less exotic development proposals, the landfill is considering the production of methanol, which can be completely exported. The problem is that the enterprise lacks space. Currently, part of the waste raw material is also sent for cement production at Schwenk.

An unresolved issue regarding the utilization of the heat produced, Mr. Stiранс mentioned, is the lack of a "pipe to Rīgas Siltums." So all the thermal energy released by the waste is used for the needs of the greenhouse park.

Shrinkage and loss

At the Getliņi landfill, constant mechanical movement of incoming raw materials is necessary — so that the buried part of the waste has the correct shape. A separate expense item is water purification, which is filtered through gigantic volumes of garbage.

One way or another, Getliņi EKO is under constant monitoring by the international auditing company PricewaterhouseCoopers. As for service transport, board member Julia Dalecka indicated that management uses electric vehicles, and for €9,000 a year, they also order bottled water and coffee. This is a corporate bonus...

…Your author, in his journalistic youth, once sat in the cab of a garbage truck, driving through the big and small streets of the Vidzeme suburb early in the morning, only to dump the contents in vast areas where seagulls and homeless people feasted. Now, almost thirty years later, everything here is set on a solid commercial basis. Want to dispose of waste generated from construction or renovation? It’s as simple as that, €251.68 per ton. Come, declare, pay. But no less than 10 kilos!

The most painful issue for the enterprise, Mr. Stiранс stated, is the problem of waste sorting. Recently, real estate was purchased — for a symbolic €1, although its actual value is estimated at €3 million. Infrastructure is currently being created. However, the Competition Council opposed — sorting is a commercial process, and Getliņi EKO is not supposed to conduct it.

– If this becomes an open market, the enterprise will go bankrupt, – Mr. Stiранс warned the Riga deputies once again. – This is a political issue.

Of course: even the largest cities in Europe regularly face garbage crises, and the leadership of Riga was recently dismissed precisely due to waste issues. Although formally…