The Lahore Waste Management Company and Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) have started work on the first waste to energy project at Mehmood Booti to protect underground water from pollution and get carbon credits with solar power.
According to officials, the project is scheduled to be completed in one and a half years and its estimated cost is Rs3.5 billion.
It is estimated that about 6,000 tonnes of garbage is collected daily in Lahore, which was earlier dumped at Mehmood Booti and now at the Lakhoder landfill site.
The Mehmood Booti site has an area of about 43 acre, but the garbage is dumped haphazardly rather than in a planned manner. The same is the situation at the new landfill side at Lakho Der.
Mehmood Booti currently has about 13 million tonnes of garbage in the form of a mountain along the Ring Road. It tarnishes the view and causes stench in a wide area.
The LWMC and Ruda have signed an MoU to extract methane gas from 43 acres of the waste dump, take carbon credits for generating electricity, protect groundwater from pollution and maintain the air quality.
The land is owned by the LWMC and the investment will be made by RUDA.
The officials said that initially a layer of soil is being spread on the rubbish, after which geo-membrane will be laid and gas collection centres constructed to treat the contaminants that pollute the groundwater. The gas will be piped to prevent the release of methane from the garbage into the air and protect the citizens from its hazardous effects.
According to experts, the methane will be brought to the collection centres through pipes and converted into carbon dioxide.
Preliminary estimates indicate that about 100,000 tonnes
of gas is likely to be released from the site in a year, which will be sold.
Solar panels will be installed over 11 acres, from which five megawatts of electricity is likely to be generated and sold to industries located around Mehmood Booti. Carbon credits will be earned by curbing pollution from the garbage through the projects.
Contracts with experts from Singapore and China will be pursued for using the credits.
The officials said a team of experts from the countries would soon visit Lahore and inspect the project.
It is expected that the Rs3.5 billion spent by the RUDA will be recovered by RUDA from the project in 10 years, after which the earning will be equally shared with the LWMC.
LWMC Chief Executive Officer Babar Saheb Deen said the land would remain under the company's ownership but RUDA would work there on the waste-to-energy project, which would help curb air and groundwater pollution, improve the environment and produce carbon dioxide.
The said project would also help the LWMC to attain financial stability.
RUDA Director Naqi Iqbal said work on the project had been started and would be completed in about two years.
He said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with the LWMC, which would cost Rs3.5 billion.
The project will show the world that we have also launched initiatives to curb pollution, the official added.
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