UN-Habitat is working with the Politecnico di Milano, Italy to carry out a feasibility study for closing Nairobi’s Ngong Town illegal dumpsite and replacing it with a modern integrated municipal waste-to-energy plant
UN-Habitat is working with the Politecnico di Milano, Italy to carry out a feasibility study for closing Nairobi’s Ngong Town illegal dumpsite and replacing it with a modern integrated municipal waste-to-energy plant.
The Ngong dumpsite receives an average of 50 tonnes of waste from Nairobi and the local communities a day, from a number of domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural human activities.
Managing solid waste is a costly and complex service for municipal and country governments and in Nairobi there is no adequate management in place, with waste dumped that is untreated and unprocessed.
It heavily pollutes the surrounding environment, including surface and ground water, soil and crops, and air, causing serious health and environmental hazards.
Nearby residents have reported skin infections and respiratory illnesses.
Now the Kajiado County government has identified proper waste management and disposal as a development priority and has allocated the land for a modern waste-to-energy plant to be constructed.
Waste-to-energy has been agreed as the best option for the new landfill site as it is an increasingly practical environmental option for urban officials and country governments.
The Kenyan government is collaborating with the Italian government to provide a long-term solution for managing waste and to create a pilot project that can be replicated across Kenya.
Italy has proposed a soft loan for the design and construction of the municipal waste recycle and treatment plant, based on the social and environmental impact assessment of a feasibility study that UN-Habitat has coordinated and provided technical assistance for.
On November 22, 2017 UN-Habitat and the Politecnico di Milano, which represents a consortium of the Technical Unviersity of Kenya and LDK Consultants Engineers and Planners, signed an agreement of cooperation and outlined the requirements of the feasibility study.
The study will conduct a basic diagnostic survey on the solid waste management’s current status in Kajiado County and estimate the financial and technical feasibility of the existing dumpsite’s safe closure.
It will then evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of the design of a new integrated waste to energy system, including the potential for a resource recovery facility.
It will also conduct consultative workshops and raise awareness locally.
The study will run from December 2017 to March 2018.
The new facility will recycle waste and generate energy for sale to the grid, as well as improving environmental sanitation, providing an affordable and fully-functional waste management system, raising awareness and community participation in waste segregation and collection and creating new employment opportunities.
