Disagreement between Bangladesh government and China Machinery and Engineering Corp (CMEC) has apparently stalled the implementation of the first-ever waste-to-power project in Bangladeshs capital, Dhaka.
This has exposed a debate about whether the government should proceed with the controversial incineration project, sources at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate said.
The contracting authority, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), wants to execute the 42-megawatt electricity project at Aminbazar landfill site, where the city corporation dumps 3,500 metric tons of waste per day.
Data shows Bangladeshs daily solid waste generation is nearly 35,000 metric tons, and two city corporation areas of the capital produce more than 7,000 metric tons of waste per day.
The average solid waste generation per person in 2021 was 520 grams (1.1 pounds), which could shoot up to 800 g (1.7 lbs) in 2030 and 1.19 kilograms (2.6 lbs) by 2041 as the economy grows.
The city corporation justifies the project, as it cannot find any new landfill site for increasing volume of solid waste that generates a huge volume of methane, a potent greenhouse gas 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the power purchase deal on Nov. 12, 2020 but the CMEC has yet to build the basic infrastructure of the $500 million project due to a disagreement with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
According to conditions negotiated, the CMEC will build the incineration facility for which DNCC will provide 3,000 metric tons of solid waste daily for burning in the incinerator. Bangladesh Power Development Board will buy electricity from the company for 25 years.
However, the project took a new turn after the government promulgated the Solid Waste Management Rule in December 2021.
According to Waste Concern, in 1991, more than 43 hectares (106 acres) of landfill were needed to dump more than 2.3 million metric tons of solid waste generated in the urban areas every year, while the landfill requirement in 2021 stood at nearly 223 hectares (550 acres), causing pressure on land-scarce Bangladesh.
Nearly 80percent of Bangladeshs solid waste is organic, and the hot, humid atmosphere favors turning waste into a wealth of raw material for biogas and organic manure.
It said the Department of Environment issued the site clearance certificate for the incineration project, stating that the minimum temperature in the incinerators secondary chamber must be 1,000° Celsius (1,832° Fahrenheit), according to Bangladeshs Solid Waste Management Rule, 2021.
But the CMEC wants the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to "modify the temperature requirement in the certificate," setting the temperature at 850°C (1,562°F) instead of 1,000°C. The company said in a letter that the 1,000°C requirement would not apply to them, as the Solid Waste Management Rule-2021 was published in a public gazette on Dec. 23, 2021, before the signing of the deal.
The letter said the CMEC project proposal "clearly demonstrated" their intention to use mechanical grate furnace technology, with furnace flue gas remaining at above 850°C.
