Sixth cell installed at Al Ghabawi landfill in Jordan

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AMMAN — Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh on Wednesday inaugurated the first phase of the sixth cell project at Al Ghabawi landfill, marking the start of the landfill’s ability to receive waste after construction work is completed.

Shawarbeh stressed the importance of completing the rest of the nine-cell project, which will be financed via a loan and grant from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Sixth Cell Project Manager Ali Sheikh said that the cost of the sixth cell project amounts to some JD7.1 million, and is located on an area of 154 dunums, divided into two sections of 77 dunums each.

Sheikh stressed that the Greater Amman Municipality’s (GAM) objective for the project is to form a modern waste disposal site that preserves the environment, and extracts biogas from it to generate electricity.

After the cells are filled, waste is packed and covered to be planted into gas wells which extract methane that is then used to generate power, he said, adding that gas is currently being extracted from the first four cells.

Sheikh stressed that the landfill is environmentally safe and has no negative impacts on the groundwater, and that the cells receive waste in isolated pits covered by three-layer plastic to prevent fluids from reaching the groundwater.

Rateb Zubaidi, director of waste processing at the landfill, said that the landfill receives some 55 per cent of the Kingdom's waste, at a daily average of 4,000 tonnes.

The gas currently extracted from the project generates 4.8 gigawatts of electricity per hour, and the generation capacity will increase after the new cells are completed, Zubaidi said.