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Stakeholder consultation for The Omdurman Landfill Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Composting Project
02/26/14
The Omdurman Landfill Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Composting Project is applying for Gold Standard (GS) retroactive registration. The comments of stakeholders needs to be solicited on impact of the project on local environment, society and economy as required by the GS.
GS certification launched by the NGO, World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) recognizes and admires the CDM projects' contribution to environment integrality and sustainable development.
Please refer to Project summary and Stakeholder Feedback Round meeting minutes for details.
You may comment on the project throughout the whole project lifetime via the below methods:
| Project owner | Tel: +249183220389 |
| GS regional office | Tel: +20222745693 |
Project summary
The Omdurman Landfill Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Composting Project (hereinafter referred to as the “proposed project” or the “project”) is the implementation of a new composting plant at the Omdurman landfill waste disposal site located in Omdurman City, Khartoum State, Republic of Sudan.
The main purpose of the project is to produce compost from municipal solid waste collected from households around Khartoum region. The waste will be first sorted in a 960tMSW/d sorting facility built on site then the selected biodegradable fraction will be arranged into linear windrows and turned periodically by turning machines for aerobic composting. Water will be added along the process to maintain activity without causing anaerobic conditions. After completion of the maturation and screening by means of trommel, the final product will be bagged and sold as organic soil conditioner.
The project scenario falls within sectoral scope 13 – Waste handling and disposal - and consists of the construction and operation of a composting plant with an initial processing capacity of around 475t fresh organic MSW/day. In a second stage, processing capacity is expected to reach 1,000 tons organic feedstock per day as pre-sorting will be performed upstream at 3 transfer stations with the Khartoum region. By 2020, a third stage will bring the total processing capacity to 1,200 tons per day, through the addition of pre-sorting equipment at 4 more transfer stations.
The scenario prior to the implementation of the project activity is the disposal of the waste on a landfill without capture of the landfill gas where decomposition of biodegradable fraction of the waste under anaerobic conditions leads to methane generation. Existing municipal waste management system in Khartoum State consists of 3 transfer stations (Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman) from where the waste is transported by trucks and deposited onto 3 landfills (Tayba, Hatab and Omdurman). Those disposal sites have controlled placement of waste and include waste leveling and coverage with soil.
The proposed project through composting the waste under aerobic conditions will lead to the reduction of methane emissions into the atmosphere that would occur from decomposition of waste at the landfill site. Methane is a greenhouse gas with global warming potential 25 times higher than carbon dioxide. After deduction of greenhouse gases sources due to project activity such as on-site fuel consumption, electricity use, N2O and CH4 emissions from pockets of anaerobic conditions during the composting process, the project is estimated to lead to 38,326 tCO2e per annum on average over the first CDM crediting period.
The baseline scenario is the same as the scenario existing prior to the start of the project activity mentioned above.
The project activity’s contributions to sustainable development include:
• Reducing chemical imbalance in soils due to intensive use of chemical fertilizers through the production of natural soil conditioner. Compost also helps remediate contaminated soils, and has the ability to prevent pollution and erosion.
• Introducing waste management good practice in the region. This is in line with objectives listed in The Republic of Sudan’s National Adaptation Programme of Action prepared by the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources from Sudan Ministry of Environment and Physical Development, as one the 3 priorities is Public Health including the improvement of community sanitation services.
• Contributing to technology transfer as the sorting & composting equipment installed is imported and training is provided. Besides, sorting technology applied to the project will be further disseminated in the host country through cooperation agreement between Egyptian equipment provider and Khartoum State.
• Reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases to combat global climate change;
• Contributing to local economic development through employment creation.
Stakeholder Feedback Round meeting minutes
The meeting was held on 12/02/2014 12:00am at the premises of the Sorting Factory, located in Omdurman City, Khartoum State, Republic of Sudan.
Nineteen people attended the physical meeting. A site visit was planned during the meeting, however, all the participants expressed that they were very familiar with the project since it started commissioning in 2011 there was no need to pay the visit, thus, site visit was cancelled.
First, Dr. Tawfig, Director General of PECS Company Limited, welcomed the guests and provided a brief introduction of the project. He explained that the waste is delivered by trucks to the project site from transfer stations located in Khartoum State. Waste is discharged and loaded by mechanical shovels on conveyors into slicers. After that the waste is sorted by trained personnel in the sorting plant. Organics are directed to the composting area on site and plastics are further processed in the plastics recovery line onsite.
The sorting and composting project was commissioned in May 2011. The first compost produced was of low quality therefore project entity had to purchase and to install a destoner from India. Due to fire accident, more than 50% of the sorting plant was destroyed in Nov. 2012. Project has not restarted since then because an analysis of the first month of operation proved that the economics are bad without CDM revenues. Project entity aims to restart operation as soon as the project is successfully registered as CDM.
Then, he invited the attendees to make comments or ask questions about the project. Following is the summary of discussion.
Ebrahim El sayed Shosha, Onsite mechanical engineer from Egyptian equipment provider
The process of the composting plant has been explained in details. About 200 persons were trained and later employed.
Abdal AL Zim Gismalbary, El Fateh town’s Coordinator of the People’s Committee
Employment opportunities are available for the local people and priority has been given to local residents. The problems faced by the people are mainly due to the flies, smoke and the smell created by the landfill site. The people are not aware of the reason for the stoppage of the composting plant and they have identified that the above mentioned problems are increased due to the stoppage of the composting plant. Also, he confirmed that if the project activity will not start operated then they will frequently face the above mentioned problems.
Almost 600 to 700 employees got employed by the project, out of which 70% are women. The total population of the town is 100,000 people. He confirmed that the negative aspects of the landfill such as fever, sickness and other disease are being reduced all because of the composting project as it converts the landfill waste into compost.
Further, he confirmed that there is an increase in the income of the people, they are getting 700-750 Sudan Pounds for unskilled and 1,000 Sudan Pounds for Skilled labour. The income is a benefit for them as they are jobless and they all migrated from Khartoum to Elfateh town. They moved to Khartoum from war zones in Darfur and South Sudan and were later offered land to build their houses in El Fateh as part city planning. No children were considered for employment.
Malik Bashir Mohammed, Cleaning Authority - Khartoum State
The personal safety of the people has increased due to the development of infrastructure such as buildings and road. Earlier to the implementation of the composting plant there are three landfill sites in the Khartoum region (Omdurman, Hatab, and Tayba) and there is no plant for composting the landfill waste. After the implementation of the compost plant 8,000 people got employment for the collection of waste in the region. The government is planning to implement pre-sorting equipment at the transfer stations for sorting the waste by end of 2014, and also to replicate the composting activities on Tayba and Hatab landfills in the future. He confirmed that the people are worried about the landfill site but not the composting unit.
Khartoum State government also helped in the investment in the compost plant to improve the environment. However the major initiative for the implementation of the compost is from the project owner. The land is allocated by the government exclusively for landfill and the nearest residential area is around 4-5 kilometers. The cleaning authority has confirmed that no cultural or archeological assets were impacted by the implementation of the composting project.
Administrative Manager Composting Plant
He has confirmed that only above 18 years old are employed. After 5:00PM women workers will not be allowed to work. The men workers are allowed to work for a maximum of two shifts and they are not forced to work overtime. Job training is provided to the employees, they have allotted one person fully dedicated for training. The skilled workers were trained based on their educational background (electrical and mechanical). Also, he confirmed that the women were trained for doing job in the sorting of landfill waste. As they have involved both the men and women employees there is an increase in the work force and resulted in the increased production (i.e.15 tons to 20 tons of compost) The waste sorting increased from 50 to 80 tons/hour due to the training of the women employees.
Finally, he has confirmed that the employees are getting better payment through the job.
Abu Talib Abdalmutalib, General Executive Manager Karari Administrative Unit
Karari is one of the three localities in Omdurman city. El Fateh Town is one of the towns in Karari locality.
He confirmed that the employees are working voluntarily in the project and the project has provided jobs for the people who were jobless as they are displaced from other areas. He raised 3 comments to the project owner:
Comment 1: Future plan of the composting plant regarding the social responsibility through the economic value of the project
Response from Dr. Mohammed Tawfig: The social responsibility of the project owner is to employ the local people mainly the poor and the widow women. Also, the plant will reduce the negative aspects of the landfill. We are committed to continue to provide jobs and salaries to the workers. The company also provides them with social insurance by Law. We are in the process of setting up a canteen onsite which will function as a cooperative and will provide products for daily life without any profit, because in El Fateh prices tend to be higher than central Khartoum.
Comment 2: Due to the transfer of waste to the land site, the stoppage of the composting plant will create more side effects. What is the action plan to handle the situation?
Response from Dr. Mohammed Tawfig: We are working to restart the sorting composting activities after fire hazard; we have also purchased a destoner to increase product quality. We are seeking carbon finance to improve the economics of the project. As soon as the project is restarted less waste will be deposited on the adjacent landfill.
Comment 3: As the people in and around the area have no more employed onsite the stoppage of the composting plant creates unemployment. So, he would like to receive guarantee that the project will continue to employ people from El Fateh.
Response from Dr. Mohammed Tawfig: It is a chance for the project to have local resources available and we have no intention to go elsewhere because El Fateh is the nearest town from the project. We organize the commuting of the people between the town and the project every day. Women have their own bus.
Local Resident from Elfateh (electrician)
The women employment is really appreciated by the village people and that results in the increase in the income of their entire family. Most of the women working in the sorting unit are widows that lost their husbands in conflicts and they are getting income for their subsistence. The reason for allotting more women in the sorting unit is due to less physical strain and they are skillful in doing the job. Due to the stoppage of the composting plant they are facing problems, so they are expecting the plant to start operation at the earliest.
Medical Physician
The safety in the region increased due to the implementation of the project. The health issues reduced. There is no soil pollution and the compost is used as the nutrient, so they really welcome the project. Air pollution reduced as the composting plant started to utilize the waste. Further, the medical physician told that the project owner is co-operating to bring health and safety in the plant.
Fatah Al Rahman Abdalla, General Manager Operation Cleaning Project-Karari
Almost 2,500 tons of landfill waste is generated from the nearby locations. The government is planning to implement pre-sorting before sending to the composting plant. Apart from the composting plant, no other plants are ready to accept the waste which includes polythene based bags.
Ali Abbas, economic office from Royal Netherlands embassy in Sudan
M. Ali Abbas attended the meeting as observer. He was invited by project entity as the Embassy financed autoclaves at several locations in the city so that medical waste can be treated upstream and does not end up delivered at the sorting plant. Mr. Abbas expressed the embassy’s support to the project.
Dr.Ahmed Alfahl, Head of Environmental Health Department of Karari locality
We fully support the project. There are scavengers on the adjacent landfill and it is not possible for us to control because we do not have sufficient resources.