Shapkar landfill near Strumica being covered with soil to reduce fire risk

Work is underway to cover the Shapkar regional landfill near Strumica with soil as part of an effort to reduce recurring fires that have long troubled residents of the town and surrounding villages. So far, crews have covered roughly half of the site — principally its northern section — and planners intend to cap the entire accumulated waste with an approximately 50 centimetre layer of earth.

Measures, surveillance and machinery

Access tracks at the site will be upgraded to permit easier movement and faster intervention by heavy equipment, while the landfill is now under 24-hour video surveillance and guarded continuously. Four cameras have been installed, and standby machinery is available for rapid response in case a fire breaks out.

"We will bring separated fill material so we can sprinkle it; that's the point — to behave more responsibly towards that landfill, and we will also tamp the access tracks so they match the entire situation there," says Kire Sindrakovski, director of Public Utility Company Komunalec.

Local officials also say some of Komunalec's machinery will be renewed in the coming period to improve upkeep of the site and to enable more effective handling of emergencies.

The problem of uncontrolled dumping is not limited to Shapkar. According to Komunalec, illegal disposal persists at multiple locations across the municipality, prompting stepped-up inspection controls.

"Across the territory of the Municipality of Strumica there is almost no settlement where uncontrolled waste has not been dumped," Sindrakovski adds. Shapkar receives municipal waste from three municipalities in the Strumica region, and upgrading the site is also important because there are plans to accept waste from the Southeastern and Vardar planning regions in the future.

Photo: press material from the event