"There have been ten outbreaks of African swine fever in Estonia this year, the most recent at the EKSEKO farrowing farm in Viljandi County, which is currently being dealt with," said Olev Kalda, head of the animal health and welfare department at the Agriculture and Food Board (PTA), on Wednesday. "Pigs there are being culled using CO₂ and the carcasses are being transported to AS Vireen for disposal."

Kalda emphasized that although the term "pig burning" has been circulating, in reality, the processing of culled pigs involves high pressure and high temperatures.

"The mass is compressed and the fat is removed. The solid part is turned into meal, which AS Vireen uses as fuel. The fat is turned into biofuel outside of Estonia," Kalda told ERR.

According to Kalda, the current response capacity is limited by AS Vireen's throughput.

"Vireen can handle about 70 tons of culled pigs per day. EKSEKO had more than 27,000 animals before the culling began — about 7,700 of them were adult pigs, the rest piglets of various ages. That adds up to an estimated 2,300 tons of biomass. This means that relying solely on Vireen would significantly prolong the disposal process," Kalda said.

The PTA has identified four potential locations where the pigs could be buried as a last resort.

Kalda stressed that burial is truly a last option and that other alternatives are being pursued. One of those has been seeking agreements with equivalent companies in neighboring countries.

"Unfortunately, the deal with Latvia fell through because an outbreak of swine fever was also discovered there, at a farm with 20,000 animals. That company now has to fulfill disposal obligations domestically. We've also reached out to Lithuania, but their initial response indicates they are not prepared to accept our culled pigs," Kalda said.

Eesti Energia to test burning pig carcasses

"One serious option we see is reaching an agreement with Atria Eesti AS, which has a facility for processing animal by-products. While the potential volumes at their Hummuli site are smaller compared to AS Vireen, it's still a viable alternative," said Kalda.

"There are also companies in Estonia that incinerate waste, and under certain controlled ratios, it's possible to burn culled animals along with it. This is a highly regulated process, both technically and environmentally," Kalda noted.

He added that the PTA has approached Eesti Energia and received consent to conduct a trial of co-incinerating pigs.

"Burning pigs isn't classical incineration — it's a controlled process in a combustion chamber. A pig is endothermic — it has to be burned, it doesn't combust on its own. The Iru plant was paused over the summer and has only just restarted operations. Since pigs have never been incinerated at the plant before, a trial run is needed first and Eesti Energia has agreed to carry it out with us," Kalda said.

Availability of domestic pork to suffer

Kalda also rejected claims that culled pigs are being stored somewhere before incineration.

"The pigs are not being stored. They are being culled in stages and sent to AS Vireen as capacity allows. The situation at EKSEKO is currently calmer and fewer animals are being culled. This makes it possible, for now, to time the culling according to Vireen's capacity to process the carcasses. However, the animals are showing signs of illness, and from an animal welfare standpoint, it's not possible to delay culling indefinitely. The disease causes the animals severe suffering — it is extremely painful," Kalda said.

According to Kalda, each outbreak is being investigated to determine how the infection may have entered the farms. While no single source has been definitively confirmed, the findings offer serious insights and recommendations for improving future biosecurity compliance.

"The level of compliance with biosecurity measures — which are aimed at minimizing the risk of the virus entering farms — has varied from farm to farm. Efforts have been made, but the results have been inconsistent," Kalda said.

He added that the situation is affecting the availability of domestically produced pork in Estonia.

"Even before the tenth infected farm, there was hope we could contain the outbreak. But the picture is different now. A total of 55,000 animals have either already been culled or are slated for culling. That's about 20 percent of Estonia's domestic pig population. This is having a clear impact on the availability of local pork. Previously, Estonia's self-sufficiency rate was around 70 percent — now a fifth of that has effectively disappeared," Kalda said.

PTA: Põhja-Sakala Municipality best suited for burying carcasses

The possibility that the Agriculture and Food Board may resort to burying culled pigs has sparked fear and frustration among residents living near the proposed burial sites.

One of the potential sites is in the Õisu forest district in Põhja-Sakala Municipality, located along the Viljandi–Metsküla road. Residents nearby told the newspaper Sakala they are concerned about the safety of their well water, and a local electoral alliance is gathering signatures in protest against the burial plan.

Kalda said the site in Põhja-Sakala was selected carefully, based on an analysis by the Geological Survey of Estonia.

"The analysis was done in 2015, but there's no reason to believe the soil conditions there have changed significantly. The key when choosing a site is to eliminate environmental risks and to prioritize locations far from residential areas and bodies of water. These locations were identified years ago, and this particular site is one of the safest from an environmental perspective, posing no risk to the public," Kalda explained.

He stressed that groundwater protection is essential when burying pigs. "It depends on the local soil composition and groundwater level. In Põhja-Sakala, the Environmental Board has already taken well water samples and additional samples will be taken after any potential burial. These will be compared and monitored over the long term," Kalda said.

In its 2015 analysis, the Geological Survey identified several suitable burial sites for culled pigs, including Varkja in Saaremaa; Kikka, Viisli and Soodoma in Põlva County; Metsküla, Kiini and Tuhalaane 2 in Viljandi County; and Konguta in Tartu County.

Executive manager personally responsible for culling at Vireen

Kalda said that psychological support has been offered to both farm workers and staff at Vireen during this period of intense pressure.

"EKSEKO is providing assistance to its employees," Kalda said. However, he noted that the main concern for AS Vireen's CEO is not so much psychological strain as it is exhaustion.

"Since the end of June, the culling of pigs has been carried out by a small group of people under the direction of Vireen's CEO. Transportation is handled by the company's contracted partners. Workdays have also been long at Vireen's animal waste processing plant in Väike-Maarja," Kalda said.

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