Jäätmehooldus Kihnu saarel

Käesolev lõputöö annab ülevaate Kihnu saare jäätmehoolduse hetkeolukorrast, kus jäätmevedu on korraldatud Kihnu Majanduse osaühingu poolt. Kihnlastel on võimalus oma jäätmed viia lähedal asuvasse jäätmejaama, mis on tänapäevasel tasemel. Vastavalt töö eesmärgile on analüüsitud Kihnu saare jäätmehoolduse olemasolevat olukorda, uuritud ettevõtetes/asutustes ja majapidamistes tekkivate jäätmete hulka ning saareelanike rahulolu jäätmehooldusega. Lisaks on analüüsitud, kui kättesaadav on kihnlastele jäätmealane informatsioon. Autori poolt läbi viidud uurimusest selgus, et saare elanikud on üldiselt rahul saarel toimuva jäätmehooldusega ning teadlikud, kuhu ja milliseid jäätmeid viia. Nad on tutvunud saare jäätmehoolduseeskirjaga ning saanud jäätmealast informatsiooni kas valla kodulehelt, valla lehest või jäätmejaamast. Samuti tekitab rahulolu, et enam ei ole prügimägesid ning jäätmejaama viidud jäätmed viiakse saarelt ära. Siiski leidub ka neid majapidamisi, kes ei kasuta prügi jäätmejaama viimise võimalust, vaid viivad selle metsa alla või põletavad kodus, saastades sellega keskkonda. Jäätmete sorteerimist puudutavatele küsimustele vastasid uuringus osalenud majapidamised, et sorteeritakse panditaarat, klaastaarat ei sorteerita küsitlusele vastanutest kolmes talus. Samuti selgus, et sorteeritakse riideid, plastmassi ja konservikarpe, kuid nende jaoks jäätmejaamas konteiner puudub. Vastanud talupidamistest peamine osa külastab jäätmejaama vähemalt kord kuus või kord kvartalis. Väiksem osa viib majapidamises tekkinud jäätmed jäätmejaama kas üks või kaks korda aastas. Saartel on jäätmekäitluse tagamine olnud alati problemaatiline, eelkõige oma asukoha pärast ning kuna Kihnu saare jäätmehoolduse kohta pole varem uurimust teostatud, siis saaks koostatud tööd kasutada saarel jäätmehoolduses olevate kitsaskohtade parendamiseks. Lisaks on töös välja toodud autoripoolne hinnang Kihnu saare jäätmehooldusele ning ettepanekud probleemide lahendamiseks.

Waste Management on Kihnu Island. Environmental issues are increasingly topical. It is inevitable that the side-product of human activity is waste. The Waste Act that entered into force in 2004 establishes that the local government is responsible for the transport of municipal waste in an administrative territory with less than 1500 residents. Kihnu with its length of 7 km and width of 3.3 km is the biggest island in the Gulf of Riga and belongs to the small islands with permanent settlements. In January 2015, the Kihnu rural municipality had 695 official residents. The aim of this graduation thesis is to give a comprehensive overview of the current state of waste management on Kihnu Island, and learn about the management of waste produced by businesses/organisations and households, the availability of information about waste and the satisfaction of the island’s residents with the local waste management. The thesis additionally highlights problematic issues and suggests possible solutions. The quantitative method was used for the purposes of this thesis. The methodology is based on subject-related literature, analysis, description, study, observation and questionnaires. The residents of Kihnu Island can take their waste to a contemporary waste treatment facility located nearby. The people are content, because there are no more refuse disposal sites and waste is taken away from the island. The study conducted by the author of the graduation thesis indicated that the residents of the island are generally content with the waste management on the island and know where to take which kind of waste. They have read the island’s waste handling rules and gained information on waste management either on the municipaality’s home page, local paper or the waste treatment facility. Still, there are households who do not take their waste to the waste treatment facility, but instead leave it in the woods or burn it at home, causing pollution to the environment. With regard to questions about refuse sorting, the households participating in the study said that they sort deposit-subjected packagings; glass packaging was not collected in three of the questioned farms. It also appeared that people collected clothes, plastic and tin cans, but the waste treatment facility did not have a container for them. A majority of the questioned farm households visit the waste treatment facility at least once per month or per quarter. A smaller number of households take their waste to the waste treatment facility once or twice a year. The provision of waste management services on islands has always been problematic, mainly because of their location. As there has been no earlier research on the waste management on Kihnu Island, the graduation thesis could be used to improve the problem areas of the island’s waste management service. The thesis additionally includes the author’s evaluation of the organization of waste management on Kihnu Island and proposes solutions to the problems established.