Hteinbin landfill to turn garbage into natural gas

By Zin Lin Myint

 

I load the plastic-packed rubbish generated from the kitchen onto the garbage trolley arriving in front of my house, gazing at the municipal worker slowly pushing the garbage trolley loaded with a variety of plastic bags of rubbish. I further speculate that the rubbish coming from even a street of the ward was so huge, and for the whole Yangon, it would be stacked with heaps like a mountain.

 

Plans are underway to set off

 

Hteinbin, Daweichaung, Dala and Seikkyi Kanaungto landfills are located in Yangon. The garbage volume generated from Yangon a day is about 2,500 tonnes. Plans are underway to turn 1,000 tonnes out of the total waste volume coming from the whole Yangon to generate into compressed natural gas (CNG), according to Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC).

 

Hteinbin landfill, the largest one in Yangon, has an area of 242 acres of land. Starting from 2000, the environmental conservation and sanitation department of the YCDC has assumed responsibility for the transportation of the rubbish discarded from the whole Yangon to designated landfills in Yangon.

 

The accumulation of garbage in Hteinbin landfill has become larger day by day, resulting in a scarcity of land to discard the further waste in Yangon, and causing environmental contamination such as atmosphere, water and earth pollution where there will be habitats the insects such as flies and mosquitoes are active. So as to deal with the situation that can affect the environment, plans are underway to build an energy plant.

 

The use of Poland technology

 

 The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approved the proposal to take ODA loans to build the waste-to-energy plant with the use of the waste from Hteinbin landfill on 31 January in 2020. It must be built using Poland technology as quickly as possible. In order to build the waste-to-energy plant, ODA loans of Euro 50 million will have to be released by Poland government.

 

The construction of the waste-to-energy plant will be implemented during 2020. Plans are underway to generate renewable energy and fertilizer as well as natural gas. Thanks to the project that can generate natural gas from the waste disposal with the use of technology, it is certain that the garbage fires similar to the previous ones and environmental impacts will be reduced.

 

Hteinbin landfill gradually becoming larger

 

The garbage volume generated from Hteinbin a day is about 1,350 tonnes, Daweichaung about 1,100 tonnes, Dala about 25 tonnes and Seikkyi Kanaungto 8 tonnes. With the passage of time, the accumulation of the garbage at the landfills has become larger, thereby resulting in a scarcity of land to dispose of further garbage.

 

Direct sales of natural gas under negotiation

 

 Due to the circumstances capable of making effective use of international technology and experience, plans are underway to generate the waste-to-energy. Once the waste-to-energy plant is completed, it is going to directly sell 30 tonnes of natural gas to CNG-run vehicles in Yangon Region. Moreover, negotiation was conducted with the Ministry of Electricity and Energy to sell natural gas to some factories and workplaces.

 

Auto users of today are turning their attention to the use of natural gas because it is cheap. It is hoped that the plant will earn more than Euro 900,000 from the sales of natural gas and other gas-related products every year.

 

Such a plan of generating natural gas from the garbage ground will be an advantageous business.

 

Dealing with waste disposal effectively

 

The problem of the accumulation of the garbage in Yangon where is home to more than 7 million people is being solved.

 

The waste-to-energy plant built with the cooperation of Japanese government during October in 2015 was located beside the road to Hlawga Wildlife Park in Shwepyitha Township, Yangon Region. The plant was built at a cost of USD 16 million including USD 8 million of financial assistance provided by Japanese government.

 

The waste-to-energy plant will burn 60 tonnes of waste discarded from Yangon every day with manufacturing output of 700 kilowatt and 300 kW of the generation will be used for the plant and the remaining 400 kW will be sold out.

 

Waste-to-energy project to begin soon

 

The natural gas will be generated from the use of 1,000 tonnes of waste of Hteinbin landfill. In doing so, the problem of the scarcity of the land to discard further waste would have been solved while generating the natural gas the vehicles can consume. This energy project will begin as quickly as possible. For these reasons, the Yangonites should dispose of the garbage coming from the houses at the designated places by segregating the solid waste into the dry and the wet in a systematic manner.

 

Translated by Htut Htut (Twantay)