RUBBISH WILL BE USEFUL

In other words, you do not have to be an environmentalist to say that, to put it mildly, the situation there has an extremely adverse effect on the capital's environment. In addition, these types of illegal "mini-dumps" are scattered all over the city.

As the country's prosperity increases, all the problems of this sort are gradually being resolved. The time has come to eliminate the flaws in the system of waste collection, transportation, dumping and processing, and to create a unified system.

Combustion first, then processing

The Clean City Joint Stock Company, which was founded by decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in early August, will be in responsible for the dumping and processing of all solid waste generated by the city of Baku. The new company has already taken over the Balaxani waste disposal dump, which was on the balance sheet of the Utilities Department of the Baku city authority, and solid waste disposal dumps in the Suraxani and Qaradag districts. The government's share in Clean City will be managed by the Ministry of Economic Development. And the executive authority of the capital, which used to oversee all waste-related issues, will now be responsible only for waste collection and its transport to the dumps.

It should be said that, even before the company was founded, it was decided after research in this field to begin work on a project to build waste processing facilities in Baku. Initially, there were plans to build three facilities at the same time. But ultimately, it was decided to start with a waste combustion plant.

Let us note here that there are several types of waste disposal: open burial, closed burial, partial processing and combustion. As mentioned above, Azerbaijan currently operates only the former, and by no means the best, method.

Waste combustion is considered an expensive method, but it is also the most effective for the Azerbaijani capital. "Like many other large cities, Baku experiences a shortage of land. This is why creating new dumps, thus occupying expensive plots, which could be used for other purposes, is inefficient to say the least. Waste combustion facilities, which reduce the volume and mass of waste considerably by burning it, are a good alternative," said Deputy Economic Development Minister Mikayil Cabbarov.

As for the partial processing of waste, this project envisages the creation of a system of separate collection and transport of waste. In the cities where this is practised, the population collects waste in different containers depending on type and the containers are delivered to the dump separately. The district municipality is responsible for keeping different types of waste in separate containers: the facility has the right to send back any container which is not suitable for processing.

To set up this system in Baku may take decades, because people's habits need to change, amendments need to be made to the relevant acts and so forth. However, expert opinion says that this might prove to be quite beneficial from the economic point of view, because it would make it possible to begin processing paper, glass or plastic (none of which is currently processed in the country, despite the fact that some people collect these items) and so on.

500,000 tons of waste = 231.5 million kWh

Essentially, the plant to be set up in Balaxani by the French company CNIM, will not just burn waste at 800 degrees centigrade. As a by-product, the plant will generate electricity - 231.5 million kWh a year, which is quite enough to supply the Xacmaz District. In addition, the soot produced by combustion will be used in road building.

The plant project, which was recently presented to the cabinet, envisages building two high-productivity lines, each with a capacity of 250,000 tons per year and with the potential to add another line, that is, to increase output by 50%, using turbines to generate electricity.

"Today we do not have accurate information on the amount of waste in Baku and its chemical composition. When the dumps are transferred to the company in accordance with the President's decree, we plan to use electronic scales at the Balaxani dump; we will weigh the amount of waste that is delivered there," Mr. Cabbarov noted. The weighing system will be simple: the truck carrying the containers full of waste will drive onto the scales as it enters and leaves the dump. The difference will be the weight of waste. For now, the engineers have used the rough estimates of experts. In their estimation, on average one Baku resident generates 300-450 kilograms of waste a year (roughly 1 kilogram a day), which totals 700,000-1 million tons a year. This is why the facility was designed to have a capacity of 500,000 tons.

The plant will be equipped with modern equipment which fully meets the environmental standards not only of Azerbaijan, but also of the EU. The resultant dust will be buried at the dump and gas emissions to the atmosphere will fall within EU standards. With the exception of the moment of launch, it will be fully self-fuelling. The excess electricity produced will belong to the Clean City Joint Stock Company and will be added to the city grid.

"The amount of investment into the plant is not known yet because, before the construction is launched, the plot assigned to the project needs to be prepared. There are some problems with several old abandoned oil wells which need to be shut down, covered with concrete and so on. But the construction project itself will cost 400 million euro," Mr. Cabbarov said.

The company will be fully state-owned, in other words, by Clean City, but it will be managed by the construction company for the next 20 years (with the possibility of prolonging the management contract for a further 10 years). This is a DBO (Design-Build-Operate) project, which is a widely practised method in the world today. However, the contract specifies that three years after putting the plant into operation, the number of foreign staff will be reduced to the minimum and expenses for personnel training will be borne by the French if necessary. The construction project is scheduled for completion in three years' time.

New collection vehicles

And for now, Clean City will be involved in the implementation of the "Systemic Management of Solid Household Waste" project, which is worth $41.5 million. "We held talks with the World Bank and there are plans to sign a credit agreement for $29.5 million. But for the Azerbaijani side, the international expert analysis to be invited to take part in the project is more important than the amount of credit," Mr. Cabbarov noted.

The project has five components; one envisages closing down part of the Balaxani dump, which is already full and no longer in use. International best practice is to lay out parks and plant trees in such places. On the remaining territory, pits will be dug out, where waste will be dumped. There are also plans to supply the dump with new equipment, carry out expert analysis to establish the expected life of the dump and to identify areas for new dumps.

"This is the first time we have been faced with the task of developing this branch of the communal utilities sector to European standards. We think it advisable to invite foreign specialists and hire resident expert advisers," said the deputy minister.

In conclusion, let us note that the President assigned responsibility for control over the collection, transport and transfer to the Clean City Company of all solid household waste within the city of Baku, regardless of the source or origin, to the executive authority of the city of Baku. The city government is also trying to carry out reforms in this sphere and has bought new waste collection vehicles, which can collect waste even from the narrow streets of the capital. In short, we should expect real improvements in waste collection and disposal in the next few years.