Kathmandu, October 6

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has finally started generating gas from waste. The KMC had imported waste-to-energy plant from India for generating gas and electricity from garbage produced in Kathmandu Valley.

The KMC’s initiative is part of a one-year pilot project supported by the European Union. After the plant’s installation, the KMC had been feeding garbage into the plant for the past few weeks.

According to Rabin Man Shrestha, chief of the environment division of KMC and director of Promoting Integrated Sustainable Solid Waste Management Project, methane gas was produced from today. “Finally we succeeded in producing methane gas.

We are still in the preliminary stage and are testing the plant,” Shrestha told The Himalayan Times. “After the preliminary phase, we will start electricity generation.”

Although the KMC had been trying its best to generate electricity before Dashain, it deferred the plan after the initial process hit snag.

Gyanendra Karki, spokesperson for the KMC, said they were planning to start electricity generation between Dashain and Tihar. According to Shrestha, after the preliminary stage, the system will consume three tonnes of solid waste per day, producing 14 kilowatts of electricity.

The KMC is planning to invite the prime minister to inaugurate generation of electricity from waste. The electricity generated by the plant will be used by the KMC office.

Besides, the KMC is also planning to replicate the project in other municipalities if the one-year pilot project succeeds. “Other municipalities have expressed their interest in the project, so the KMC is thinking of replicating the programme in other municipalities if the pilot project succeeds,” said Karki, “With power generation from waste, waste management will become easier in Kathmandu Valley.”

KMC said the plant would also produce 96 kg gas, 300 kg bio-organic fertiliser, and 13,500 litres of purified water daily from the garbage collected at the Teku transfer station. A total of 450 tonnes of garbage is produced in Kathmandu Valley every day. Nearly 63 per cent of the garbage is organic waste.

According to a study of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Bhaktapur Municipality, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, Kirtipur Municipality and Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market alone produce 331 tonnes waste every day.