The City of Kigali’s only dumping site located in Nduba Sector, Gasabo District is set to be closed as construction of a modern landfill is expected to start in June.

The shut down of Nduba landfill will be effected after the new facility is complete and operational.

The construction of a modernised landfill is in line with having a sustainable solution to pollution, according to officials from Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC).

The modern landfill will be constructed in the same sector but in a different location.

Nduba landfill was opened in 2012 after closing Nyanza dumping site in Kicukiro District.

According to estimates, waste in Kigali has increased threefold, from 141.38 tonnes every day in 2006 to 495.76 tonnes currently but it has been difficult to sort the wastes out at the landfill for better utilization.

The increase in waste correlates with increase of city population that has grown from 600,000 people living in the city in 2002 to about one million in 2015 and now standing at 1.6 million people living in the city.

In an interview with The New Times, Dominique Murekezi, the acting director of Water and Sanitation Development at Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), said that the dumpsite is posing threat to the environment and human health and therefore has to be closed.

WASAC said that due to the lack of proper solid waste management, the city faces the issues of unsustainable use of resources, inefficient solid waste collection and transport, pollution to air, soil and water from poor waste handling, gas emissions and leachate, groundwater contamination at the dumpsite, risk of fire and landslides at dumpsite among other threats to the environment.

With the high organic content in the waste, there is methane gas generation at the site which causes both fires and greenhouse gas emissions.

"With funds from the Swedish government, we completed a feasibility study in April 2021 to set up a modern sanitary landfill in Nduba and turn waste into resources. After the feasibility, the government decided to implement the project under Public Private Partnership,” he said.

Late last year, he noted, the government launched the procurement of an investor to implement the project.

"The contractor has to build with their own money and then will be recovering through services the modern landfill will provide. The procurement is about to be complete as it is at the stage of notification. This will be followed by contract negotiations and concluded by May. The target is to start the construction by June this year,” he said.

How the modern landfill will operate

The sanitary modern landfill, officials explained, could have different features which include a section that receives methane gas discharged from the landfill, water, organic manure among other byproducts.

Besides increasing agricultural productivity, the organic fertilizers could also be used to make Kigali city gardens green and healthy.

At least 70 per cent of waste in Kigali is organic waste, 30 percent is solid waste that can be recycled of which 10 percent are plastic bottles.

"The waste that can’t be recycled will be dumped in cells as a safe way whereby waste can’t leak into soil. The water from this waste will also be treated before flowing into the environment,” he said.

The landfill gas, he noted, will also be recovered for energy production.

According to 10-year climate plan , Rwanda plans to invest $28 million in extraction and utilisation of landfill Gas (LFG) for power generation which will then reduce methane gas emissions in the air.

The country also seeks to invest $8 million in setting up Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants.

Landfill gas utilisation contributes 54 percent to the reduction of emissions, waste-to-energy contributes 34 percent while composting contributes nine percent to reduction of gas emissions that cause global warming.

"The existing landfill must be closed. The modern landfill will have a part where it receives waste, where waste is sorted, where waste to be recycled has to be stored and where biodegradable waste or organic waste for fertilizers is stored and the part for waste that cannot be recycled. It will also have a part for a piping system to harvest methane gas for power generation,” Murekezi explained.

He said that there will be proper fencing of the closed dump site to avoid leakage in the ground.

"Pipes will be inserted into the closed dumpsite waste, collect methane gas and also be used for energy generation,” he said.

Toilet waste to be dumped in Masaka

He said that toilet waste will no longer be dumped in Nduba as Kigali Faecal sludge treatment plant is about to be constructed in Masaka sector, Kicukiro district.

The solar-powered plant could be complete by 2025, The New Times has learnt.

The plant to cost €8.1 million is under design in Masake sector of Kicukiro.

It is estimated that 92 per cent of Kigali’s population rely either on pit latrines or septic tanks as sanitation facilities while seven per cent use semi-centralised systems.

Funded by Lake Victoria Basin Commission - an institution of the East African Community - he said, the project idea started in 2016 but was not implemented immediately as it was being refined.

"We are starting to recruit contractor in this February and hope to secure a contractor by August and start construction in September this year. The construction will take 24 months and be completed by August 2025,’ he said.

The plant will have capacity to treat 500 cubic metres per day of sewage.

After treatment on sludge drying beds and extended storage of two months, the bio-solids should reach a quality that will allow for restricted use in agriculture according to project developers.

The quality after treatment also allows for the disposal of the sludge at a controlled landfill if re-use options cannot be implemented.

The project further envisages assessing the technical and financial feasibility of fuel production and composting.

According to projections, access to sanitation will be improved for approximately 1.8 million additional people in Kigali after 10 years of operation.

The waste into Lake Victoria Basin could be reduced by 0.67 tonnes per day through the plant.