Trash crisis hits a city in Russia’s Dagestan after bad fuel sidelines half its garbage trucks

Residents of the Dagestani city of Kaspiysk have complained that trash collection has fallen behind, the local news outlet Mirmol reports. Garbage containment areas are overflowing, residents said, forcing them to pile trash next to the bins.

Kaspiysk Acting Mayor Arsen Sherifov said an acute shortage of equipment caused the “garbage collapse.”

The city has just 22 garbage trucks, not enough to service Kaspiysk, and 12 of them recently “broke down for repairs” because of poor-quality fuel.

“We filled up the trucks six or seven days ago. The fuel turned out to be low-quality. Out of 22 trucks, 12 broke down for repairs all at once. Repairing each one cost us 75,000 rubles. We’ve fixed most of them. But during this repair period, trash has piled up. It will take two or three days to clear it,” the mayor explained.

Amid a fuel crisis triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, authorities extended permission for some refineries to sell gasoline and diesel fuel on the domestic market that falls short of the “Euro-5” standard for sulfur content and other indicators.

On August 5, the Russian government authorized the production, import, and sale of automotive gasoline meeting the “Euro-2,” “Euro-3,” and “Euro-4” environmental classes through July 1, 2027. Gasoline and diesel fuel in the “Euro-2” and “Euro-3” classes harm both the environment and modern vehicles, containing several times more sulfur and other hazardous impurities than modern “Euro-5” fuel.