A garbage crisis has erupted in the Russian city of Kaspiysk due to a breakdown of garbage trucks
The city of Kaspiysk (Dagestan, Russian Federation) is facing a major problem with garbage collection. The trash containers are overflowing, and local residents are forced to leave their trash next to the bins. According to local authorities, the problem was caused by a mass breakdown of garbage trucks after they were refueled with low-quality fuel.
Arsen Sherifov, acting mayor of Kaspiysk, stated that 12 of the 22 garbage trucks serving the city broke down simultaneously about a week ago.
“We’ve repaired most of them. But garbage has piled up during this repair period. It will take 2–3 days to remove it,” he noted.
According to the official, even with all 22 garbage trucks fully operational, it is not possible to ensure normal city cleanup.
Local authorities tried to rent additional equipment from other regions of Russia, but to no avail.
“We called around to neighboring regions and traveled to Vladikavkaz and Grozny. But everywhere, unfortunately, there are difficulties, and they won’t even rent this equipment for any amount of money. We have to use dump trucks and loaders,” Sherifov said.
According to Russian sources, the situation is linked to the fuel crisis that arose following drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.
To compensate for the fuel shortage, the Russian government authorized the production and sale of Euro-3-standard gasoline in early July, and on August 5, it extended the relaxation to Euro-2 gasoline, the sale of which had been banned in Russia since 2013.
Euro-2 gasoline contains up to 500 mg of sulfur per kilogram of fuel, which is 50 times higher than the permissible level for the Euro-5 standard, where the limit is 10 mg/kg.
Fuel market expert Anastasia Bunina noted that modern engines are not designed to run on such fuel. According to her, the high sulfur content significantly accelerates wear and tear on the cylinder-piston assembly, the fuel system, engine oil, spark plugs, valves, fuel injectors, and the catalytic converter.
Dmitry Prokofiev, communications director at NEFT Research, shares this view and also warns of the negative consequences of using gasoline that does not meet environmental standards.
This is reported by Russian media.
As a reminder, problems with electricity, water supply, and fuel availability are escalating in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The Main Intelligence Directorate noted that this situation is a consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the occupation of the peninsula.
