TIRANA, April 23 – A massive fire destroyed the Everest urban waste recycling plant Monday in Tirana’s Kashar suburb, while the plant’s plastic cache kept releasing a toxic cloud of black smoke that could be seen from 20 kilometers away.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, however experts pointed out the company, Everest, lacked proper fire protection tools, and this was known to authorities, which had fined it for the same reason.
“The subject was already fined last year for not meeting fire protection requirements as there was already a similar case last year,” the chief of Tirana’s firefighting sector, Arjan Ahmetaj, told local media.
The fire also damaged the electricity network supplying the entire area of Unaza e Re and Mà«zez. The country’s main power distribution operator OSHEE confirmed one electric cabin was completely burnt down by the fire.
A number of people in the area told local media about their worries concerning the factory’s burn-down.
“This is my and my children’s food source,” a plant worker told local media.
Experts have already confirmed the smoke coming from the uncontrolled burning of plastic will be bad for the environment and the area’s inhabitants, who have been advised to keep their windows closed for the following few days.
“These citizens may experience problems in their respiratory systems, they may sneeze more, their eyes may tear up. They should try to keep contact with polluted air to a minimum,” Arben Luzati, chief of the Health and Environment Department from the Public Health Institute (PHI) said.
He added that health problems may be heavier on the long run, with the most common including lung disease and heart complications.
Neither the Ministry of Healthcare nor the PHI have began researching the level of pollution in the air and soil after the fire burned around hundred tons of plastic.
Everest was promoted as the poster child of Albania’s recycling industry, with a press release by the Prime Minister’s Office in September 2016 promoting it and its large capacity as to why Albania needs to import recyclable waste from outside the country, a controversial proposal that saw protests in Albania and force the government to withdraw.
In September 2016 Prime Minister Edi Rama visited the plant and, according to the press release, “saw closely the technological process of recycling.”
