Is it true that Batumi's landfill by the Chorokhi River will be closed soon?
Checked · updated
Translated from Russian. Original
Rumor: Residents and visitors in Batumi keep saying that the old city landfill near the mouth of the Chorokhi River is about to close, and that waste will soon go to a new landfill near Kobuleti. The "we'll close it soon" promise has been around since 2019.
1. Verdict
Closing the old landfill by the Chorokhi has really been decided, but not "soon". It will close only after the new landfill in the village of Tsetskhlauri near Kobuleti starts working. That landfill was built in 2021 and still isn't operating: a waste-sorting plant next to it and a transfer station in Batumi have to be built first. According to the authorities in January 2026, this will take until 2027 at the earliest; in August 2026 there was still no date.
High: recent answers from Adjara's finance ministry (via the local newspaper Batumelebi) match EBRD documents and officials' statements from previous years. Not "very high": we did not open the official letters or the closure plan ourselves.
2. Claims and facts
- «Batumi's old landfill by the Chorokhi River will be closed»True
True as a decision. Since 2019, the authorities of Adjara (an autonomous region of Georgia) and the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which funds the project) have said the landfill must close because it doesn't meet legal standards. In 2026 Adjara's finance ministry confirmed that the closure (sealing off the site) is being prepared.[1][2][7]
- «This will happen soon»Distorted
Not confirmed. The closure will start only after the new landfill in Tsetskhlauri opens, and that is waiting for a waste-sorting plant and a transfer station in Batumi to be built. In January 2026 officials said "not before 2027"; in August 2026 they still gave no date. A similar "very soon" was already promised in 2022.[7][8][3]
- «The landfill is by the Chorokhi River»True
True. The landfill is in the Adlia area, on the right bank of the Chorokhi not far from the sea; according to Batumi's municipal plan, it sits right inside the river's protection zone. Some news reports call it the landfill "in Gonio" — it is the same city landfill on the southern edge of Batumi.[2][5][4]
3. Where the rumor came from
- EBRD website · en
The EBRD and Sweden fund a new landfill in Tsetskhlauri (a €3 million loan and a €4 million grant). The bank says the Batumi and Kobuleti dumps must be closed urgently because they harm health.[1]
- Batumelebi · ka
The newspaper reports that the new landfill will be finished by November 2020, and the old landfill by the Chorokhi will close only after it opens — not for at least a year.[2]
- Sputnik Georgia, Novosti Gruzii · ru
Adjara's head of government Tornike Rizhvadze promises the new landfill will open in June 2022 and the Batumi landfill will be sealed off "very soon". This is where Russian-language "closing soon" headlines come from.[3][4]
- Batumelebi · ka
Batumi City Hall allocates land for a transfer station and again says the Chorokhi landfill will close after the new landfill opens; the deadline moves to the end of 2022.[5]
- Batumelebi · ka
Adjara's waste management company names a new deadline — autumn or the end of 2023 — and says closing the old landfill will begin at the same time.[6]
- Batumelebi · ka
Adjara's finance ministry tells the newspaper the landfill isn't operating because the waste-sorting plant and transfer station haven't been built; the wait is until 2027 at the earliest.[7]
- Batumelebi · ka
There is still no date for opening the new landfill or closing the old one. The tender for the sorting plant has moved to its second stage; the transfer station tender is promised by the end of 2026.[8]
How the text changed
- 2019: "the landfill will close after the new one opens, not for at least a year".
- → 2022: Russian-language headlines keep only "closing soon" — the condition about the new landfill is pushed down into the text.
- → 2023–2026: deadlines slip almost every year, but retellings keep the old "it'll be gone soon" with no date and no condition.
4. What the media say
- Batumelebi (batumelebi.netgazeti.ge)Context
A local Batumi newspaper that has followed the project since 2016; in 2026 it twice published the ministry's answers: no closure date, not before 2027.[7][8]
- Sputnik GeorgiaRepeats
Headline "Batumi landfill to close soon", citing Adjara's head of government; the promised date — summer 2022 — was missed.[3]
- Novosti Gruzii (newsgeorgia.ge)Repeats
"Adjara authorities set closure timeline": the article gives no exact date, only "very soon" after the new landfill opens.[4]
- EBRDContext
The bank funds the new landfill and says the old Batumi and Kobuleti dumps must close; it gives no closure dates.[1]
6. Signs of manipulation
- A vague "soon" with no date. In 2022 Adjara's head of government said "we'll seal it off very soon"; in 2026 the ministry still hadn't named a date.
- A dropped condition. The closure depends on the new landfill opening, which is waiting for two more facilities; retellings leave this condition out.
7. Similar rumors in the past
- The new landfill will be finished by November 2020, after which the old one will close.
Outcome: Construction finished only in 2021, and the landfill never started operating.[2][7]
- "Batumi's landfill will be sealed off very soon", with the new landfill opening in June 2022.
Outcome: Deadline missed: the equipment tender failed, the launch was moved to 2023, then postponed again.[3][6]
In common with past rumors
- A real decision by the authorities is presented as something about to happen.
- A deadline from an old statement gets repeated for years without checking whether it was met.
What is new
- This isn't a planted fake but a long-standing official promise that gets postponed every year.
9. What to do
- If you're choosing housing near the mouth of the Chorokhi or in Adlia, assume the landfill will keep operating for at least several more years.
- Check deadlines against recent news about the Tsetskhlauri landfill: until it accepts waste, the old landfill won't close.
- Don't take "closing soon" promises seriously if there's no date and no named contractor — they've been repeated since 2019.
10. What we could not verify
- We did not open the Adjara finance ministry's letters or the landfill closure plan ourselves — we know them from Batumelebi's reports.
- We couldn't read the 2026 Batumi City Council document on landfill spending: the file wouldn't open.
- We couldn't establish when the nlevshits.com post was published.
11. Sources
- EBRD funds new solid waste facility in Adjara, Georgia — EBRD, 11 April 2019 · accessed 2026.11.07
- How the new landfill will work and what awaits the old one — Batumelebi, 12 December 2019 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Batumi landfill to close soon — Sputnik Georgia, 28 January 2022 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Adjara authorities set timeline for closing Batumi landfill — Novosti Gruzii, 29 January 2022 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Chorokhi landfill to close, transfer station to be built — Batumelebi, 16 June 2022 · accessed 2026.11.07
- What awaits those living at the Batumi landfill, and when the new one will open — Batumelebi, 12 May 2023 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Why the new landfill completed in 2021 isn't operating — Batumelebi, 18 January 2026 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Opening date for Batumi's new landfill and closure of the old one unknown again — Batumelebi, 29 August 2026 · accessed 2026.11.07
- Batumi landfill to close, construction of new landfill to begin — nlevshits.com · accessed 2026.11.07
5. Social media
A post saying "Batumi's landfill… will be closed and a new, modern landfill built" — no dates, and no mention that the new landfill is already built and sitting idle.[9]