The municipality has taken many measures in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Kuwait Cement Company, to launch an investment project to complete the procedures to convert municipal solid waste into dry fuel to be used in the cement production plant kilns.
The contract is expected to be signed between the Kuwait Municipality and the Kuwait Cement Company. The sources stressed that with regard to the initiative to invest and benefit from municipal solid waste and convert it into dry fuel that is used in the furnaces of cement production plants,
The sources added that the municipality is seeking to implement and apply the latest technology in the field of municipal solid waste treatment, in line with the municipality’s directions to shift from the backfill method currently used in landfill sites to dispose of municipal solid waste and replace it with a modern environmental system for the treatment of municipal solid waste.
The sources indicated that the Municipality has recently sought to focus on the economic and environmental returns of the waste management process through the application of the currently available alternatives to benefit from municipal solid waste in a way that achieves the general benefit of the state, as one of the most important modern and globally applicable solutions in this field.
Sources explained that the goal of the project is the following:
— Protecting the environment and natural resources and reducing the waste of large areas of land used to fill this type of waste, in addition to providing alternative sources of energy through energy recovery through fuel manufactured from waste, which contributes to reducing overall fuel costs and reducing the volume of waste that must be disposed of in waste dumpers.
— Developing the municipal solid waste management system in Kuwait which leads to achieving a public benefit for the state by improving the economic, environmental and social situation.
The source referred to the measures taken by the municipality and the Kuwait Cement Company regarding the project, are as follows:
1 – In 2019, the municipality coordinated with the Kuwait Cement Company to cooperate with it to find safe ways to dispose of the municipal solid waste generated in Kuwait, which is steadily increasing, especially as it occupied vast areas of the state’s land as landfills for the purpose of disposal. Kuwait’s response and interest in cooperating with the Kuwait Municipality in the field of disposal of the aforementioned waste that is collected and buried in landfills and in line with the company’s long-term future vision to search for alternative sources of energy “waste” that can be used as a main fuel alternative to “coal”, which leaves no room for doubt This joint initiative is of general benefit to Kuwait in the economic and environmental fields.
2 – The Kuwait Cement Company informed the Kuwait Municipality of its capabilities to help dispose of local solid waste, in particular (non-biodegradable waste “plastic”) to set up a waste recycling plant and operate it for a minimum period of 20 years, as well as owning the largest incinerator (furnace) currently in operation. In light of the proposal to dispose of local solid waste in cement manufacturing operations, the Kuwait Municipal Cement Company was informed of the possibility of establishing a municipal solid waste treatment plant within a period not exceeding 18 months from the date of providing the basic infrastructure.
3- The Kuwait Cement Company, in its first step in fulfilling the municipality’s requirements, appointed a “business consultant” office to prepare and submit an economic and technical feasibility report for the establishment of a plant for the production of environmental fuels derived from solid waste as a main raw material used in the company’s factory furnaces. The company has identified the solid waste landfill in Mina Abdullah as one of the “appropriate” sites for receiving and recycling solid waste.
4 – The municipality has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the company regarding the project of establishing a factory to convert municipal solid waste into dry fuel, to be used in the kilns of cement production plants.
