- After all, there were 40 objects from the beginning and there are perhaps only opportunities to decontaminate two objects a year, says Jonas Karlsson who is the coordinator for the decontamination of the glass kingdom.
The two glassworks areas that are to be rehabilitated in 2021 are the glassworks in Alsterbro and the already demolished glassworks in Flerohopp.
Contaminants can be spread
There is a risk that the pollutants will spread and it is therefore important that the glassworks areas are cleaned up.
This is explained by David Lokrantz, who is an administrator at the County Administrative Board in Kalmar.
- Over the years, a lot of heavy metals have been used in the glassworks in production and waste has since been laid out in the immediate area.
Those pollutants are still there, he says.
Many are closed
The need for decontamination is due to centuries of glass production and many of the glassworks that need to be decontaminated have been closed down for many years.
- In cases where there are nearby watercourses, the pollutants may have spread there, and have also spread to some extent into the rivers.
It is also an ongoing project, where we look at what that spread looks like there and how we can tackle the problem, says Jonas Karlsson.