Solid waste to be turned into renewable energy

By Ranil Wijayapala

Nalin Mannapperuma

When Sri Lanka was undergoing a development drive during the past few decades it did not have time to pay attention about the negative consequences of it. Many were of the opinion that the issue of garbage will not be a problem for them as long as the country was having enough lands to dump them. But it took quite some time to realise that it was not so.

People started realising the gravity of this problem only when they saw those small dumping grounds systematically rising to mountains of garbage, even threatening surrounding human habitats and natural environment, thus becoming a health hazard. Though they thought that the small bags filled with garbage they threw in to those dumping grounds without any concern about the environment will not be a problem, it systematically grew as a problem to challenge them at their doorstep.

The truth behind the realisation of this fact actually is the bad odour and health hazard that people were facing. Otherwise that will also be one of the problems silently growing in the society like a time bomb to be exploded. Though it was a subject that has to be tackled by the Local Government bodies of the country, the requirement to have a national level approach was highlighted to face this challenge.

When Environment Ministry started tackling the waste management issue through its Pilisaru program introducing the 3R concept Reduce, Reuse and Recycling, the Western Province the smallest province with the largest population in the country responsible for 60 percent of the total waste generation in the country also started facing this challenge with the establishment of the Waste Management Authority under the Western Provincial Council.

The available statistics show that the current generation of municipal solid waste in the western province is around 3,200 to 3,500 metric tonnes per day and the per capita generation varies from one kilo to 0.4 kg per day. But the collection is around 2,400 metric tonnes and that is around 65 to 70 percent.

According to Deputy Director of Waste Management Authority Nalin Mannapperuma this waste generation rate increase by 1.2 to 2 percent per day and it is predicted that in 2050 the waste generation in the western province will increase upto 5,800 metric tonnes per day.

"This is the biggest challenge we have to face in the years to come and we are in the process of facing this challenge effectively by introducing short-term, medium-term and long-term programs for waste management in the Western province", he said.

Adopting Zonal concept in waste management, the WMA introduced appropriate institution and administrative systems for waste management and also to promote collaborative or sole approach for managing municipal solid waste by sharing limited resources in waste management.

As another effective measure for waste management, the WMA also introduced seven steps in managing waste to promote a unique regulatory framework for Municipal Solid Waste management by sharing of responsibilities among the individuals and the responsible organisations from the waste generation to the final disposal. This is already in within the legal framework of the waste management process in the Western Province.

The building for the facility

But the fact that the generation of 60 percent of the waste in a province which shares only 6 percent of the land mass in the country, make things worse for the Western Province.

So it has to think of better mechanism not only to collect those waste and dump but also about mechanisms to get rid of the huge amount of municipal waste collected by local authorities.

So the WMA has set targets for the managing of municipal waste effectively without making it a problem for the people and also for the development process.

"In 2016 the expected waste generation in the Western province is 3,200 metric tonnes per day. But the present collection is around 75 percent and we have plan to increase the waste collection by 95 percent by 2016", Mannapperuma said.

To facilitate this process, source segregation or the separation of waste at its source is also important. "Presently the source segregation is around 16 to 18 percent and to achieve that targets we have plans to increase it upto 50 percent and after we increase the source segregation we can have separate garbage like perishable garbage and other forms of garbage", he added.

Through the separation of waste the WMA is planning to use perishable garbage for composting. A minimum of 450 metric tonnes of perishable garbage amount to 15 percent of waste are going to divert for compost plants.

Likewise 280 metric tonnes that amounts to nine percent of the Municipal Solid Waste we are planning to make use for recycling.

The WMA has given 21 composting facilities for Local Authorities and they have a designed capacity of the 2,229 metric tonnes per day. But the current operation capacity of these facilities are around 53 percent; therefore they are underutilised.

"To overcome this situation in the next few years we are going to increase the operational capacities of these composting facilities and also we are planning to establish new facilities as well to reach that target," he added.

"But the important thing here is that by composting and recycling we can manage the solid waste for some extent. Totally we can't compost or recycle. The rest of the material has higher energy value. That energy value we can use for power generation", he said. When the authorities are contemplating over the issue of using municipal solid waste for power generation those waste to energy programs has now become a part of the mass scale projects proposed by the WMA as a solution to tackle the generation of waste within the Western Province.

"Based on the statistics we have to use minimum 2,000 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste per day for renewable energy generation. That amount is around 66 percent of the total solid waste generation in the province. If we can achieve all these targets we can reduce open dumping", he added.

Presently the incineration is very low and it will be increased upto 66 percent in 2016. In the Colombo district, the total waste generation is around 2,100 metric tonnes per day. Out of the total waste generation 1,600 metric tonnes of waste being collected by the local authorities. That is around 75 to 80 percent of total waste generation in the district. By 2050 the total waste generation in the district will be 2,500 metric tonnes per day and the waste to energy requirement 1,500 metric tonnes per day. "To achieve that we have master plan and we have two sites one in Karadiyana and the Kaduwela site for waste to energy project. Karadiyana site requires 1,000 metric tonnes per day and Kaduwela site needs 500 metric tonnes per day. So we can match the waste to energy requirement and the total solid waste generation in the district through this project.

The designed facility

The Waste Management Authority of the Western Provincial Council, under the guidance of its Chief Minister Prasanna Ranathunga and the provincial Ministers have been able to take the first step in the endeavour of starting waste to energy project by sealing and agreement with a private sector partner to commence Sri Lanka's first waste to energy project in Korathota, Kaduwela.

Going through the stipulated mechanism in the process of selecting a suitable developer for this project it has selected RenewGen

Environmental Ventures India (Pvt) Ltd as their private sector partner in establishing this waste to energy project.

"This is a public and private partnership to implement this project and we have signed a concession agreement on November 18, 2012", he said.

This concession agreement was signed to provide a five acre land for the RenewGen Environmental Venture, India Pvt Limited and also for the uninterrupted supply of the municipal solid waste to the project and also to support them obtaining all applicable approvals.

"The land identified for this is in Korathota, Kaduwela and it is an abandoned metal quarry. The technology they used for incineration is called mass incineration and it is a proven technology. And it is being used 248 facilities in Europe, 21 facilities in the UK", he said.

"Through this project we can achieve economic benefits as it generates 8 MW of sustainable energy to the National Grid and the WMA can have five percent of the profit as an equity share", he said. Apart from that it also cuts down the excess waste handling cost. "On the environmental aspect, it can handle 400 to 600 metric tonnes of MSW in an environmental friendly manner and also can produce Eco Bricks from ash, generated by daily operation of the facility. It also generate 100 direct and indirect job opportunities and help development of infrastructure facilities", he said.

He said the project was identified to be implemented on a priority basis at the Colombo District Development Committee which was chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a solution for the requirement of the local government bodies in handling municipal solid waste.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been completed and the construction is scheduled to begin in January next year and it will take a minimum of 18 months to complete. But at the end of the year 2014 we are in a position to accommodate garbage for the facility.

The WMA as partner of the RenewGen Environmental Protection Kotte Pvt Ltd will supply the required solid waste for the project. The 8 Mega watts of power generated through this project will be added to the national grid.

The state-of-the-art technology to be used for the facility

Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premjayantha and Mayor of Kaduwela Municipal Council G.H. Buddhadasa also extended their support to make this project a reality.

Apart from that facility another waste to energy facility will also be started in Karadiyana. For the Karadiyana waste to energy project a developer has been identified. The EIA for the project has been submitted but not approved. Once they get the EIA approval they will also commence the project at the end of 2014.

"Karadiyana site requires 1,000 metric tonnes per day and Kaduwela site need 500 metric tonnes per day. So we can match the waste to energy requirement and the total solid waste generation in the Colombo district", he added.

"We are planning to start providing waste to energy projects in the Gampaha and Kalutara districts also to solve the solid waste issues in the districts apart from mass scale composting facilities and sanitary land-fill projects which are being operated at present", he said.

So the implementation of Sri Lanka's first waste to energy project in Korathota, Kaduwela will lead the Solid Waste Management in the country towards a new direction, he added.