OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2010. Azerbaijan continues realization of National Strategy of Solid Waste Management supposing the creation of regional centers for waste management and utilization.

Informed sources report that within the preparation of solid waste management scheme on Ganja city it is proposed transfer of Ganja landfill of solid waste.

"Today in accord with the scheme it is suggested to leave it in the same place - near Ganja-Tbilisi highway, but it will be commercially inefficient. This area has significant economic value and should be used for development of industrial zone of Ganja. In this connection it would e better to transfer the landfill below the stream of the Ganjachay River.

In this case, it will be closer to the Azerbaijan territories occupied by Armenia, in particular in the area of the least attractive zone for commercial activity. Even if this proposal is not accepted, we will have to transfer the landfill in any case – as it has already exhausted the territorial resource for development," the source said.

New ideas have also appeared on the occasion of institutionalization of the sector.

Some potential consultants propose to apply in the city a fundamentally new scheme for waste management by privatizing the sector. In this case, the Ganja Executive Power’s Cleaning Office that has quite modern technical equipment could become a private commercial enterprise. And a relevant group in the city’s executive power or local office of the Ministry of Economic Development could control over it. In case of such a scheme waste management would be commercially attractive and based on self-sufficiency.

Acceptance of bids from the participants of the main round of the selection of a consultant for feasibility study on integrated system of solid waste management in Ganja will finish on 15 October.

10 applicants took part in the preliminary qualification of the selection. KfW waits for the start of work on feasibility study before the end of 2010. The contract term is six months.

The work of the consultant will be paid by the Azerbaijan Fund of Specialists and Consultants.

It is planned to create integrated system of solid waste management with assistance of the German Development Bank KfW in the city. This initiative was not only supported, but also expanded at the meeting with new KfW regional director David Bertolaza, held in the Azerbaijan Cabinet Ministers recently, but also expanded.  The government would like this scheme of management and utilization of household waste will be designed for needs of both the city and adjacent districts. To this end, the government considers it necessary to build in the city a plant for incineration or reprocessing of waste at the regional level.

The consultant is to conduct complex work on systems of household wastes of Ganja. It should carry out inventory of the existing system and offer a scheme of gathering, sorting and utilization of solid household waste, as well as system of utilization and use of gases and the requirement for landfill of household wastes. In accordance with the feasibility study it will be established investment cost of household waste management system of Ganja. On this basis KfW will launch negotiations with the government about this project financing.