Municipal Waste Management with Methane Gas Destruction in the City of Dar es Salaam
01/31/2012
The Dar es Salaam City Council in Tanzania has proposed to implement a 21-year Solid Waste Management Program in response to several studies. These have shown that the generation of municipal waste is increasing rapidly, and that the current system of collection and disposal is insufficient.
The city of Dar es Salaam has a population of about 4 million people, increasing at a rate of roughly 4.5% per annum. This important East African city is an active ICLEI member and is one of the participating cities in one of ICLEI Africa’s climate adaptation projects, entitled“Sub-Saharan Cities: A five City Network to Pioneer Climate Adaptation through Participation Research and Local Action”. The main aim of this project is to assist and strengthen the cities in their ability to plan for, and adapt to, the threats and impacts of climate change.
Dar es Salaam’s population generates about 2,600 tons of solid waste per day. This is expected to grow to about 5,000 tonnes per day by 2015.
A series of recent studies have indicated that the current system of municipal solid waste (MSW) management has had a negative impact on living conditions and contributed greatly to the generation of the potent greenhouse gas, Methane. The burning of waste in the streets has also led to local air pollution and uncollected solid waste often blocks the city’s waterways and drains, contributing to flooding and the spread of disease.
The new Solid Waste Management Program will involve the construction of transfer stations, procurement of MSW transportation trucks, installation of a landfill gas capture system and flaring. It will also improve sanitary landfill operations by designing disposal cells and providing a leachate treatment facility. The cost over the 21 year period is estimated at USD 49 million, and the project may consider generation of electricity from the huge methane potential, but this has not yet been included in the current proposal.
The proposed project intends to take advantage of the Carbon Financing window under the Clean Development Mechanism principles to implement this ambitious but necessary project. Initial projections has indicated that it has the potential to generate about 7,104,066 tCO2-equivalent over a 21 year period (at 75% collection efficiency) with the potential to generate roughly USD 115 million within this period.
The Program supports poverty reduction and other objectives of the Millennium Development Goal. It will improve the living conditions of residents, help to abate global anthropogenic GHG emission, promote capacity development and has the potential to be replicated in other cities in Tanzania.
