Cape Town pioneers turning waste into energy

Children collect recyclable items at a rubbish dump site. Photo: Reuters

Children collect recyclable items at a rubbish dump site. Photo: Reuters

Published Jan 25, 2017

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Cape Town – The first waste-to-energy plant launched at the Waste Mart in Athlone on Tuesday.

The New Horizons waste-to-energy plant will process on average 500 tons of municipal solid waste, wet-trade waste and pure organic waste to produce liquid Bio-CO2, compressed biomethane, renewable natural gas (RNG), organic fertiliser and refuse-derived fuel.

The project, orchestrated by Clean Energy Africa in association with the Industrial Development Corporation, waste-management company Waste-Mart and gas manufacturer Afrox, uses anaerobic digestion to produce biomethane, RNG and liquid CO2.

“This project is the first of its kind to provide the combination of an effective waste-management service and a valuable energy resource,” said Egmont Ottermann, chief executive of New Horizons Energy.

Marcel Steinberg, founder and chief executive of Clean Energy Africa, said: “This facility is proof that with great partners and hard work, we really can change the way in which we generate energy.

“This plant will be the crown jewel for the City of Cape Town’s green ambitions, making it the first city to embrace waste-to-energy, and support the largest biogas facility on the African continent.”

The New Horizons plant is expected to start generating biogas by around June, where Afrox will distribute the biomethane to its customer base as an alternative to LPG and diesel.

“Afrox is in discussions with potential customers about the advantages of a local source of biogas in the Western Cape,” said Heinrich Uytenbogaardt, a marketing manager at Afrox.

He added that the benefits to the environment were worth noting as the process would eliminate the need to send waste to landfills, and also lead to less harmful greenhouse gases.

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