Environment
A vehicle contains components such as fuel, air, and oil filters; shock absorbers; oils; coolants; brake fluid; lead-acid batteries; brake pads; electronic equipment; and more. All resulting parts and materials, both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, must be sorted, reused, and recycled to help prevent waste, and cannot be disposed of with household waste.
Currently, a major issue for manufacturers is limiting the use of harmful substances during vehicle production. It is important to ensure that materials used in car manufacturing do not endanger the environment or human health. This applies not only to the car’s production and operation phases but also to its later recycling. Vehicle makers aim to use as many recycled materials as possible, including bioplastics and other alternatives.
Lead-acid batteries must be collected and recycled so that all the materials they contain can be reused. For this reason, they should not be dismantled by individuals. Lead-acid batteries are classified as waste containing many hazardous chemicals. If old batteries are not handled properly, or if their cases are damaged, they release dangerous substances into the environment as they break down. These harmful substances contaminate groundwater, poison soil and plants, and negatively impact human health. Pollution with heavy metals and other dangerous materials increases the risk of skin infections, cancer, respiratory diseases, and circulatory, immune, and nervous system disorders, as well as other health problems.
Battery waste must be collected separately: batteries and battery waste should be placed in dedicated containers, barrels, boxes, or other special collection bins. Disposing of hazardous waste together with regular mixed waste is prohibited and regulated by law. Used batteries are collected, sorted, and recycled through battery waste collection, processing, and recycling systems. Consumers can hand over used batteries to a waste handler or take them to a specially marked collection point. There is no charge for dropping off battery waste. Waste must be placed in specially labeled containers. You can also drop off battery waste at municipal bulky waste sites or hazardous waste collection points. Information about collection sites and recycling options is available from municipal environmental departments, battery retailers, the Ministry of the Environment website, and other information sources.
This symbol, which appears on batteries, means that battery waste must be collected separately and not thrown away with mixed municipal waste.
Proper sorting, collection, handling, and recycling of battery waste help protect the environment and conserve natural resources. According to European Union regulations, batteries and accumulators containing lead must be collected and recycled so that all materials—such as lead, plastic, sulfuric acid, and other chemicals—can be reused.
When delivered to licensed waste handlers, most materials are returned to the market as new products. Any remaining waste that can’t be recycled is disposed of in an environmentally safe way. By collecting and recycling used batteries and accumulators properly, we save raw materials and help keep the environment clean for future generations.
You can also drop off used lead-acid batteries free of charge at our facility: Pakalnės g. 5B, Domeikava, Kaunas district.
For more information:
Improper waste management harms both public health and the environment. Changing societal values encourage overconsumption, which leads to excessive waste, causing air, land, and water pollution and posing lasting threats to nature and human health. That’s why proper waste management is one of the most urgent and significant areas of human activity.
If packaging waste isn’t sorted and handled correctly, our country could become one massive landfill in just a few decades.
It’s important to sort waste where it’s generated, recycle or reuse it, and protect natural resources and the environment in the process.
For example:
Used tyres can pollute our environment for centuries, as they take hundreds of years to decompose. Old tyres present risks to both the environment and human health. Discarded tyres in forests, ditches, or along riversides are an eyesore and can also become a fire hazard. Tyres are made from petroleum products and, when burned, release harmful substances into the air, which can lead to lung, heart, and circulatory diseases.
Rubber is the main component of tyres and retains its properties even after the tyre’s service life is over. Because of this, it’s best to recycle tyres: separating the rubber from metal and textile parts for use in new products. Rubber granules from tyres can be used in asphalt, playground surfaces, parking barriers, and other products.
Worn-out tyres can also be used as an energy source. In Lithuania, AB “Akmenės cementas” uses tyres for this purpose, burning them in special kilns with filters to neutralize harmful emissions. The ash left from burning goes toward cement production.
It is prohibited to dispose of used tyres with household or non-household waste, and burning them is forbidden.
Worn-out tyres can be dropped off for free at tyre retailers when you buy new tyres of the same type and quantity. Residents can also take used tyres to municipal bulky waste collection sites. You’ll find a full list here: https://am.lrv.lt
At these sites, you can drop off up to four passenger car tyres per year at no charge. Before visiting a collection point, check which types of waste are accepted, as each centre may have different rules—for instance, not all accept hazardous household waste. You can visit collection sites during their operating hours. Municipal officials provide detailed information about their locations, opening times, and accepted waste types. Addresses can also be found on municipal and Ministry of Environment websites.
Used car fuel, oil, and air filters are particularly hazardous to the environment. If mishandled, they pose health risks to people and damage ecosystems.
Car fuel and oil filters contain metal, oil, fuel residue, and a filtering element. Oil contains nearly a third of the elements in the periodic table: copper, zinc, and heavy metals. It is full of hazardous compounds. If fuel, air, or oil filters are thrown away, they can contaminate large areas of soil and seep into deeper layers, potentially polluting groundwater, rivers, or drinking water. Some people even burn these wastes, which releases toxic substances and carcinogens that can cause respiratory diseases. Mixed disposal with household or other waste is prohibited.
Most harmful substances are released not during metal decomposition but during its processing. Metal can be recycled indefinitely without loss of quality, and recycling it uses far less energy than producing it from raw ore.
Residents can hand over their used waste to licensed waste managers.
Our company works with waste management firms registered to process fuel, oil, and air filters as well as other hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
You can also leave your waste at automotive maintenance and service companies if you use their services to maintain or repair your vehicle.
Used filters can be handed in at municipal bulky waste sites. A detailed list is available here: https://am.lrv.lt
Recycling fuel and oil filters allows recovery of metal and oil, while air filters are used for their plastic and filtering materials. Oil is regenerated or incinerated. Recycled oil can be used again for lubricants or for completely new purposes, such as the production of high-quality base oils; it can be re-refined and sold as engine oil. Recycling used oil saves valuable energy—refining used oil requires only one-third the energy of making new oil from crude. Other recovered materials, like metal and plastic, are reused in new products.
Producing metal consumes a lot of energy and emits large amounts of greenhouse gases—which directly contribute to climate change and global warming. Recycling metal from used filters conserves natural resources, reduces pollution compared to manufacturing from virgin materials, and saves energy.
Waste oil refers to any mineral, semi-synthetic or synthetic oil, or industrial lubricant that’s no longer suitable for use. Oil released into the environment causes huge environmental problems: just one litre can contaminate a million litres of water and coat one hectare of water surface! When oil mixes with water, it forms emulsions that damage the respiratory systems of aquatic animals and contaminates soil, disrupting the oxygen supply for plants and soil organisms.
Heavy metals in waste oil can cause nerve damage, kidney problems, and cancer. These metals accumulate in the body, so with every exposure to used oil, the risk to health increases—often only becoming apparent over time.
It is illegal to dispose of waste oil with household or other unsorted waste. Such actions are strictly prohibited and regulated by law.
Burning waste oil in stoves or household furnaces is forbidden, as it releases cancer-causing chemicals, which may cause cancer, birth defects, infertility, and respiratory conditions such as bronchitis or asthma.
Oil may only be incinerated by licensed facilities in special furnaces with proper filters, serviced regularly and treated as hazardous waste.
Pouring waste oil into surface or groundwater reservoirs, drains, sewage systems, or directly onto soil pollutes vast areas, and the oil can permeate deeper layers, increasing the risk of groundwater and drinking water contamination.
Only licensed professionals may handle waste oil.
Recycled oil can be turned into high-quality base oil and can be re-refined and reused as engine oil, again saving energy. The energy required for the repeated refining of used oil is only one-third of what it takes to produce new oil from raw materials.
Residents and businesses may hand over used oil to licensed waste handlers.
Our company works with waste companies registered and licensed to process used oil and other hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
If you use the services of an auto maintenance or repair business, you can leave your used oil with them for proper disposal.
Dead car batteries contain a range of hazardous chemicals. According to EU regulations, batteries containing lead must be collected and recycled so that most of their components—lead, plastic, sulphuric acid, antimony, and more—can be reused.
Improper battery disposal or damage to the casing releases dangerous chemicals into the environment: heavy metals and electrolytes. Lead is classed as a highly hazardous element and can enter the body via inhalation of vapours or dust, or through ingestion. While lead poisoning isn’t immediately acute, it accumulates over time, causing problems like nervous system disorders, insomnia, headaches, and irritability. Sulphuric acid, also used in batteries, evaporates and can enter the body through breathing, causing eye irritation, respiratory illnesses (like bronchitis), inflammation of the vocal cords, trachea, and can harm the nasal passages, teeth, and soft tissue.
If sulphuric acid is spilled onto the ground, it destroys all plant life in that area. As it seeps deeper, it can reach groundwater, poison crops, and from there enter the food chain—affecting both people and animals.
It is illegal to dispose of batteries with household or other waste, and this is strictly regulated by law.
You must not dismantle batteries yourself; they should be handed over intact so that chemicals don’t spill into the environment.
Lead-acid batteries must be collected separately, in marked containers, barrels, boxes, or other labelled collection units.
Battery recycling companies dismantle the batteries, recover the lead and plastics for new batteries, and process the acid for use in fertilizer production.
Spent batteries should be handed over to authorized waste processors, or you can leave them at our company—we’ll make sure they’re sent to licensed handlers. We only work with registered waste management firms for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
Batteries and accumulators can also be dropped off free of charge at municipal bulky waste collection sites. Find the full list here: https://am.lrv.lt
Before bringing waste to a collection centre, check what items they accept, as policies vary. Waste can be delivered during working hours. Municipal officials provide up-to-date details about operating sites, addresses, hours, and accepted waste types. This information is published on municipal and Ministry of Environment websites.
Batteries can also be left at companies providing car repair and maintenance services when you use their services for your vehicle.
Used shock absorbers are hazardous waste due to their oil content. This oil contains heavy metals and other eco-toxic chemicals. Disposing of these car parts incorrectly pollutes large soil areas and may affect deeper layers, potentially contaminating groundwater, rivers, or drinking water. If oil or gas leaks, the shock absorber can no longer function properly. Main components include metal, oil, and rubber.
Recycling saves much more energy compared to making new products. Used shock absorbers must not be mixed with household or unsorted waste.
When shock absorbers are recycled, you recover metal, oil, and rubber. The oil can be regenerated into high-quality base oil or processed for less harmful furnace fuels. Again, this saves energy—re-refining used oil requires only a third of the energy it takes to produce oil from crude oil.
Recycling shock absorber metals also saves energy. Producing new metal consumes huge amounts of energy and releases greenhouse gases that contribute directly to climate change and global warming. Recycling means fewer natural resources are used, the environment is protected, and less energy is consumed.
Residents can give old shock absorbers to authorized waste handlers.
You can also leave them at car maintenance and repair businesses when using their services. For a map of responsible waste handling garages, visit www.esuatsakingas.lt.
Used shock absorbers can also be taken to municipal bulky waste sites. The full list is here: www.am.lt. Always check exactly which waste each centre accepts, as this varies. Municipal officials can provide detailed info about accepted items, addresses, opening hours, and more. This is always published on both municipal and Ministry of Environment websites.
Packaging waste is an alternative raw material for industry, providing benefits and conserving natural resources when sorted and recycled. That’s why it’s important to separate packaging waste from general waste, sort it properly, and ensure it’s reused—helping the environment and saving valuable resources.
Lithuanian regulations require packaging and product waste to be sorted and kept separate from unsorted household waste—this is the only way to guarantee higher recycling rates and reduced pollution. Sorting products and packaging waste properly leads to positive results.
You can dispose of packaging waste by dropping sorted items in special public collection containers (yellow for plastic and metal, green for glass, blue for paper); by handing them in at recycling buy-back centres; and by returning reusable deposit packaging to stores.
Understanding packaging symbols
To make sorting easier, most producers label packaging materials with symbols. A triangle formed by three arrows following each other in a clockwise direction means the packaging can be recycled.
The numbers inside indicate material type: 1–19 for plastic, 20–39 for paper and card, 40–49 for metal, 50–59 for wood, 60–69 for textiles, 70–79 for glass.
Information prepared following the Requirements for Public Education and Information on Waste Management under Producer Responsibility legislation, approved by order D1-554 of the Lithuanian Minister of Environment, June 28, 2012.