The AFD and the EU assist in modernization of waste management system of Samarkand city
The meeting attended representatives of the local authorities and diplomatic corps, including Mr Olimjon Ochilov, Deputy Governor of the Samarkand Region for Industry, Entrepreneurship and Construction, Mr Akbar Shukurov, Mayor of Samarkand city, Mrs Violaine Billette de Villemeur, French Ambassador to Uzbekistan, and Mr Elbek Khodjaev, Project Manager at the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan.
The project will support the construction and renovation of around 200 collection points to facilitate waste removal and improve sanitary conditions in the city. It will also include the procurement of approximately 2,100 street containers and 70 waste collection trucks to improve efficiency of waste collection. A sanitary landfill will be constructed on the existing dumpsite site to safely isolate waste from local environment. A semi-mechanical sorting plant will be located at an entrance of this new landfill to improve recyclables sorting (mainly plastics) and reduce quantity of waste buried in this landfill.
Landfill gas (LFG) will be captured, converted, and valorized as an energy source. It will be used to produce compressed natural gas for the trucks and to provide on-site power energy. The innovative “bioreactor technology” will be mobilized on the landfill site to accelerate waste degradation and increase energy recovery. The project will also include public education and awareness raising campaigns about waste management.
Thus, the project activities will have positive environmental and socio-economic impact, including reduction of soil and sub-soil pollutions, improvement of population's living conditions and city attractiveness.
The project became possible following signing of a loan agreement of 19 December, 2016, between the AFD and the Government of Uzbekistan providing € 23.5 mio. for implementing the project activities. This funding was supplemented with a grant from the European Union in amount of € 8.25 mio. The AFD, the European Union Delegation and the Samarkand authorities are now working to launch the project. Construction works planned under the project are expected to be carried out from 2017 to 2019.