The prospects of converting municipal solid waste to electricity for sustainable waste management and economic use.

Gardawheh Gad Boe

Urbanization is on the rise in Africa and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Of concern is that the infrastructure and land use planning including for waste management is not coping with the growth of urban areas (around 3.5% annually, highest in the world). This is particularly urgent in the slum areas which constitute a big part of many of the cities and towns in Africa (UNESC, 2009).

Solid Waste Management (SWM) is a major public health and environmental concern in the urban areas and many developing countries. The situation in Liberia, particularly in the large urban towns is severe. The public sectors in many countries are unable to deliver services effectively, regulation of the private sectors is limited and illegal dumping of domestic and industrial waste is a common practice. Local authorities charged with the responsibility of providing municipal services have found it increasingly challenging to play this role. Solid waste management is arguably the greatest public health threat in Liberia. There is virtually no waste management sector, along with a lack of proper toilets, means household trash, human feces, and hazardous medical waste is randomly disposed throughout the city, in some areas swelling to piles large enough to block roads. Children walk barefoot through trash heaps, picking through piles that can contain used syringes and bloodied bandages.

Proper waste collection and disposal systems in overcrowded urban areas are lacking. And people are not fully educated on the danger of [uncontrolled] waste disposal.

According to UNICEF, at least 20 percent of deaths of children under five in Liberia are caused by diarrhea, which is in turn caused primarily by poor hygiene and lack of sanitation.

In terms of figures, the World Bank Technical Paper No 426, Solid Waste Landfalls in Middle- and Low-Income Countries, gives a waste generation rate of 0.5kg/day/cap, plus a further 0.1kg/day/cap for commercial waste, which gives an overall figure of 0.7kg/day/cap4. Thus, for Montserrado, with an estimated population of 1.3 million, the average generation rate is of some 780/tones/day.

Waste generation is expected to increase significantly as a result of industrialization, urbanization and modernization of agriculture in Liberia and Africa at large. This will further aggravate the currently- existing capacity constraints in waste management. The changing lifestyles and consumption patterns of in particular the growing urban middle class is increasing the complexity and composition of waste streams in Liberia. Adoption of technology is generating high amounts of E-waste.

Municipalities are struggling with budgetary constraints. Waste has a huge energy potential that can be tapped and converted into economic use. Energy recovered from waste can be used for generation of electricity, generation of heat and power ( commonly referred to as combined heat and power).The energy generation option selected will depend on potential end users to utilize the heat and/or power available (Department for Environment food and rural affairs( DEFRA), 2013).

Energy access was a key component of Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation (AfT) and post-Ebola recovery strategy and now a major key component in the Pro-Poor Agenda. Liberia was finally on the path of growth and development after fourteen years of devastating civil war and ten years of uninterrupted peace when it was hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014. The Ebola outbreak had a devastating impact on the nation’s economy and on the lives of millions of Liberians. A recovery plan was approved in 2015 with Energy Access and Renewable Energies being a key component as energy infrastructure is critical to enable economic activity, output and growth, but also a key lever to strengthen resilience, reduce vulnerability and promote gender equality through improved health, education and security services.

Liberia’s energy access is still today one of the lowest in the world. Despite some progress on the electrification of Monrovia - the country capital - Liberia has still one of the lowest grid electrification rates in the world with less than 3% of the population connected to grid power – meaning less than 10% in Monrovia and less than 0.5% in the rest of the country. This leaves the vast majority of people reliant upon various informal and unreliable systems and leads also to an intensive use of diesel-based generators in the less rural areas of the country. Despite high renewable energy potential, electrical energy cost is one of the highest in the world relying mostly on fossil fuels. Liberia has more than 2.3 GW of hydro potential identified and a widespread solar irradiation and biomass vegetation. Many locations across the country offer the potential for lower cost renewable electricity. However, populations with electricity in Liberia face one of the highest costs of electricity in the world with the Liberian Energy Corporation (LEC) tariffs of USD 0.50 per kWh and power mostly generated from fossil fuels.

Waste-to-Energy (WTE) or energy-from-waste is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the incineration of waste. There are several technologies used such as thermal, direct combustion, pyrolysis and gasification. (Stringfellow & Witherell, 2014)

Using waste to generate electricity not only creates an additional revenue stream for the country but also reduces the burden of waste management. For a long time, solid waste collection and disposal in Liberia has been characterized by general inefficient, unfavorable and inadequate organizational set-up. The current dumpsite in Monrovia (Whein town Landfill) is overflowing with waste and an urgent solution needs to be found. The new landfill project in Cheesmanburgh is yet to be completed due to some budgetary constraint.

However, studies done on waste management has focused on situational analysis and the current status of waste in Monrovia and Paynesville. Some studies have focused on entrepreneurial opportunities for small and medium enterprises mainly on recycling and composting. Little is known about the electricity potential that the municipal solid waste in Monrovia and Paynesville has and the factors that should be considered when setting up a waste to electricity facility. Converting the waste to energy could be a long-term solution to the municipal solid waste management challenge in Monrovia and Paynesville.

Political support is very import in ensuing that waste-energy can be applied in Liberia. Sustaining political support during the long and costly implementation process is vital to the program’s ultimate success. When local government budgets are tight, a program may not survive the budget cuts unless there is continuing, strong political support. Political support is often crucial to obtaining financing and ensuring that the program gets the resources needed to construct facilities and operate them efficiently. Political leaders should also be kept informed of the program’s progress on a regular basis so that political support for the program grows as the decision-making body reaches the point of actually committing its public or private resources to implementing the long-term program (EPA, 1995).

With the low level of employment in Liberia, employment creation is one of the key benefits in waste-energy program. For example, in the United States of America, in a study to identify the nationwide economic impact of waste to energy plants, (Berenyi, 2013) quantified that there is a multiplier effect of 1.6 for every job that is held at a waste to energy facility in the US. There are more than 5350 people working in 85 WTE facilities in the United States, which includes workers at specific sites, offsite employees of the several regional and national firms that own the WTE facilities and local government personnel dedicated to plant oversight and maintenance. Most employees at waste to energy plants are technically skilled, with many having to undergo periodic licensing and operations testing. There are also jobs created in the adjacent industries. In addition, reduction of carbon emissions is a key environmental benefit of waste to electricity conversion.

In waste to energy program, revenues from sale of power and heat play a major role. For example, In the UK, the government offers incentives on electricity and heat generated from renewable sources. Waste to Energy is considered as source of renewable energy. (Berenyi, 2013) Estimated that the waste to energy industry in the US generated more than USD 5.6 billion, of which US$ 3.2 billion is direct revenue from sale of electricity and heat and the balance is from tip fees and recycling sales revenue. There is a multiplier effect on the economy with every dollar generating 1.77 dollars in the overall economy. The electricity potential will help the cities to direct resources to the waste management process as there will be a clear business case for the same. Additional revenue from electricity sales to the grid will be generated, which can then be reinvested back into the city’s waste management system.

There are lot of entrepreneurial opportunities in the successful set up of a waste to energy facility for a successful waste management. Also, there are few factors that have the greatest impact in successful set up of a waste to electricity facility project and these factors should be given a keen attention. These factors are stakeholder involvement, economic, and geographical location. Stakeholder involvement is the strongest factor with sub factors on political, regulatory and waste chain management. It can be concluded that stakeholder involvement is required in order to get the right level of political support, to get the supportive regulatory framework and to ensure that the waste chain is managed effectively. In addition, the geographical factor will impact the waste quantities that will be available to the facility as well as the environmental impact the facility will have. Of critical importance is the impact the waste facility will have on the people living near such a facility. Finally, the government should have incentives that will attract investors who may want to invest in the waste to electricity sector that will lessen the burden on the Liberia Electricity Corporation ( LEC), Monrovia City Corporation, Paynesville City Corporation and foster economic growth.

About the Author: Gardawheh Gad Boe is a Geologist (B.Sc.) and an Environmentalist ( M.Sc.) currently occupying the position as an environmental intern at Environment, Health and Safety Lab in Casablanca, Morocco. You can contact me via email: [email protected].