Incinerator discussed as solution for Sarajevo’s waste disposal problem

The construction of a waste incinerator at Butile would cost BAM 240 million (around EUR 122.8 million) and it would provide a long-term solution to the Sarajevo Canton’s waste disposal problem, Prime Minister Edin Forto said at a recently held session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly.

During the debate, building an incinerator was discussed as a possible solution to Sarajevo’s growing municipal waste problem, with Forto saying that the technology involved is expensive but would be cost-effective, as electricity and other types of energy would be produced from waste, in what would provide a sufficient incentive to private partners to undertake the investment.

“Building incinerators has become a practice in developed countries and cities, and this would be a permanent solution to the problem in Sarajevo,” said Forto, adding that the Smiljevići landfill or any other location in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) will never meet all the demands if all waste should be disposed of as it is done today.

Forto said that he believes the construction of an incinerator would create conditions to close and remediate the Smiljevići landfill, adding that experts in the field will be invited to take part in a presentation that will be held soon.

“Taking into account the views of experts and the public, we will see what’s best with for the Sarajevo Canton. In the coming months, if we decide to head in that direction, we would, in 2020, budget for consultants to prepare the project,” Forto said.

According to him, once an agreement is reached and the project prepared, talks on investment and financing will begin, and only then will the project be offered to investors.

What the feasibility study envisages

At the session held on October 8, the Sarajevo Canton Assembly instructed the canton’s Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection to propose to the canton’s government within 30 days to adopt a feasibility study for the construction of a cogeneration facility and a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) system on the territory of the Sarajevo Canton, also requesting that a position be taken on the first-ranked option for municipal waste treatment at the Smiljevići landfill.

According to the conclusions adopted by the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, the feasibility study envisages two first-ranked options:

• The thermal treatment of municipal waste in a heat and power cogeneration facility, with the addition of dried sludge from the Butile wastewater treatment facility. The investment is estimated at BAM 219 million. The facility would treat 162,370 tonnes of mixed municipal waste and 45,000 tonnes of sludge from Butile (13,235 tonnes of dried sludge), as the first-ranked solution;
• An MBT system aimed at producing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from non-recyclable waste, with biological treatment involving anaerobic digestion to obtain biogas. The investment is estimated at BAM 76 million. The facility would treat 162,370 tonnes of mixed municipal waste and would be built at the Smiljevići regional waste management center, as the second-ranked solution.