Moroccan Landfill Rehabilitation & Recycling Facility Contract for SITA
The Meknes municipal authority in Morocco has commissioned SITA Atlas to rehabilitate its household waste landfill site and to build and operate a waste elimination and recycling facility. According to the company – a subsidiary of Suez Environnement (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) – it will to be design, build and operate the facility on a 20-year contract worth nearly €90 million, helping to meet the sustainable development objectives set by elected officials and international standards. Site rehabilitation Located 5 km from the city centre, SITA explained that the Meknes landfill site has been used in an uncontrolled way since 2002. Spread over nearly 25 ha, it receives 185,000 tonnes of waste each year from the 650,000 inhabitants. Following a call for tenders, the City of Meknes commissioned SITA Atlas to begin rehabilitating the site from January 2014. The company said that the project will generate nearly €90 million in revenue over the term of the contract along with investment on the order of €19 million over the same period. “This project meets the needs of the City of Meknes to eradicate old waste, to protect the environment and the health of its citizens, and to preserve the ecological balance,” commented François Pyrek, chief executive officer of SITA in Morocco. The company added that it will be responsible for landscaping the access roads and the actual landfill site and that it will also add a vegetated cover, as well as drainage, leachate and rainwater collection systems. It will also perform drilling work to equip the site with biogas capture wells. Recycling and composting In addition to remediating the landfill, the public service delegation contract also covers the design, development, fitting out and operation of a new waste elimination and recycling facility able to process 200,000 to 330,000 tonnes of household and similar waste per year. “All communities within the Meknes municipal authority will have access to this new facility, which will be managed efficiently using modern techniques in compliance with international standards,” explained Pyrek. The new facility will include 3000 s m² sorting centre, a 3000 m² logistics dock. There will also be 3000 m² biological recovery plant will produce compost from green waste mixed with certain types of organic waste as a soil improver for agricultural land. Additionally, SITA said that biogas will be captured for the heat treatment of leachate concentrates, while a complementary use for biogas is being studied as a fuel for electricity production or to fire the ovens of neighbouring brickworks. Currently 150 sorters work at the site to sort waste as it arrives and pick out materials that can be recycled. SITA said that once to the new facility is operational it will organise them into a cooperative to improve the health and safety of their working conditions. Read More 70,000 Waste & Recycling Jobs for Morocco with $130m World Bank Loan The World Bank is to make a $130 million loan to Morocco in support of reforming the solid waste sector to provide Moroccans with more equal access to waste collection and disposal services in urban areas and create up to 70,000 jobs in waste recycling activities. Suez Environnment Brought in to Stop Lebanon Landfill Polluting In Lebanon, Suez Environnment has joined forces with contracting company, Al-Jihad for Commerce and Contracting (JCC) to shape the country’s future resource recovery and rehabilitate the huge Siada dumpsite which is threatening the Mediterranean sea. TAQA Gets Into Waste to Energy - Starting with 100 MW Abu Dhabi Plant The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, TAQA, is moving forward with a 100 MW waste to energy facility and sees potential to grow globally in the sector.