About 30 years the waste of the City of Tallinn had been transported to a bottomless and temporary landfill in Pääsküla that did not comply with environmental requirements and was immediately closed after the opening of the new landfill in Jõelähtme.

In 1998 Tallinn Landfill Ltd was established in order to solve the waste problem of Tallinn and the neighbouring local municipalities. The objective was to set up the largest and the most modern landfill that would fulfil all the environmental requirements of the European Union.

Tallinn Landfill Ltd built the infrastructure and waste collection areas on the territory of the landfill. The volume of investments for the first phase was 150 million Estonian kroons.

The City of Tallinn and the European Union assistance programme ISPA support the project with additional 95 million Estonian kroons, thereby helping with the construction of an access road to the landfill site and a sewage system.

The new landfill will manage the waste of Tallinn and its surroundings for the next 40 years, by the end of which the project will come to an end. The following 20 years will be used for the closing of the landfill, collection of the gas from the landfill and monitoring.

Jõelähtme Landfill
* Surface area: 67 ha
* Total cost of the project until its end: ca 900 million kroons
* The service area covers up to 500,000 inhabitants
* It serves Tallinn and neighbouring local municipalities