Establishment of a pilot waste separation plant in Dashtaqar landfill of Ararat region

Project Details & Results

The project aims to reduce or eliminate (to the extent possible) the environmental and human health risks associated with operation of the existing municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal site located in Dashtaqar community of Ararat region via construction and operation of waste sorting and recycling facility.

The landfill has been receiving MSW collected from 15 rural and urban communities of the region for many years; however, the remaining capacity of the site limits its further operation till 2014-2015, thus, jeopardizing sustainable and safe operation as well as possible expansion and improvement of the waste management system established in the communities. Moreover, emissions of furans and dioxins, elements that pose serious health hazards, take place periodically in summer because of self-ignition and burning of plastic wastes disposed at the landfill.

In order to address the mentioned issue, “Village Communities Stable Development” NGO in cooperation with “Maqur Yerkir” LLC, a community funded company that has been providing waste collection and disposal services in 15 rural and urban communities since 2010, initiated development of a project aimed at introduction of a new waste sorting and recycling plant to be located on the territory of Dashtaqar landfill. For this purpose, engineering design and design estimates have been developed with the support of an international expert from PUM Netherlands.

The proposed project is envisaged to be implemented in the following two stages: (i) construction of waste sorting facility that will ensure separation of organic and non-organic fractions with subsequent sorting of non-organic materials and separation of plastic, metals, glass, textile, paper, etc. and (ii) construction of organic waste processing facility that will produce biogas or organic fertilizers for agricultural needs. Sequence and scope of implementation of construction works will depend on the inter-dependence of the stages and availability of funds.
Implementation of the proposed project will ensure introduction of a model of sustainable, environmentally safe and financially feasible community-led solid waste management system that operates based on waste reduction principle and may be replicated in other communities of Armenia.

GEF SGP funding will support the implementation of the first stage only with the total duration of 7 months.

Project Results

By the end of the first stage of the project, the following major results will be produced:
• Establishment and operation of the waste sorting and recycling facility based on Dashtaqar landfill with trained staff;
• Development of project informational materials and knowledge product;
• Capacity enhancement of municipal waste operating entities and community-level decision makers through knowledge sharing and practical learning;
• Organization of trainings and awareness raising campaigns aimed at waste reduction methods and separation for recycling.