Two solid waste plants launched in Azerbaijan (UPDATE)
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev opened a municipal solid waste sorting plant in the Balakhani settlement of the capital Baku on Wednesday.
The president viewed the administrative building of the plant and the working mechanism of the facility.
Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev informed the president about the work done in the area of waste management.
Aliyev was told that the plant is Azerbaijan's first pilot project in this field.
The Solid Waste Sorting Plant will develop recycling business in the country and will annually receive about 200,000 tons of solid waste, including glass, plastic, paper and colored metal.
Suitable material chosen for sorting and recycling will reduce the overall volume of solid waste.
On the same day the president opened the Baku solid waste incineration plant. The facility is the biggest municipal solid waste incineration plant in CIS and Eastern Europe, Minister Mustafayev told the president.
Addressing the event, President Aliyev praised the conditions provided at the plant and wished success to the facility's staff.
Chairman of CNIM company's Management Board Nicolas Dmitrieff also delivered a speech at the event.
French Constructions Industrielles de la Mediterranee S.A. (CNIM S.A.) implemented a project on design, building, operating and provision of technical services on "turn-key" basis for the waste-to-energy plant.
The plant is equipped with fourth generation technologies and has the annual capacity to process 500,000 tons of solid waste and up to 10,000 tons of medical waste. Residue from the process will be an inert clinker, which could be used as a construction material.
The incinerator will be an alternative source of energy production. It will be able to produce 231.5 million kilowatts per year, which is enough to provide 50,000 households with electricity.
According to the State Statistics Committee, 4,583 cubic meters (1 million tons) of solid waste emerged in Baku in 2011. About 885,000 tons of that waste was transferred to Tamiz Shahar company, which was established to work to improve the environmental situation of the capital city through disposal of solid household waste in accordance with modern standards.
According to research conducted as part of the Integrated Solid Waste Management program by the World Bank and Economic Development Ministry, the annual solid waste volume in Baku is 350 kilograms per capita.
Waste sorting and reprocessing are the main utilization issues pertaining to waste management. Sorting will produce a secondary raw materials market as well as protect natural resources, energy, the country's territory and environment.