The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved financing for an environmental and public service project at the Ghabawi landfill in favor of the Greater Amman Municipality, through a USD 6 million loan to fund works to cover the fifth cell and connect it to landfill gas capture and utilization systems.
اضافة اعلان
According to data from the Bank monitored by Al Mamlaka, the total estimated cost of the project is about USD 12.5 million (approximately EUR 10.7 million). The EBRD’s financing includes a USD 6 million loan (around EUR 5.2 million) to the Greater Amman Municipality, with a maturity of up to 12 years and a two-year grace period.
The new financing provided by the EBRD covers specific components of the solid waste management project at the Ghabawi landfill, namely covering the fifth cell in a way that enables the capture and reduction/removal of methane gas emissions.
It also includes connecting the fifth cell to the existing landfill gas (LFG) utilization system, allowing the recovered gas to be used for electricity generation, in addition to implementing a leachate management system within the cell.
The investment is classified as a sub-project under the EBRD’s “Green Cities” program, as a follow-on investment within Amman’s Green City Action Plan (GCAP), and it also stimulates the development of the plan’s second phase.
The works aim to address risks associated with the uncovered cell, which—according to the Bank’s data—pose significant environmental hazards, including leachate leakage, methane emissions, the risk of spontaneous combustion, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as odors.
Beyond environmental protection, the project seeks to support the Greater Amman Municipality’s integrated waste management strategy and the “waste-to-energy” approach by increasing electricity generation from landfill gas from 4.8 megawatts to 6.4 megawatts. This is expected to offset around 60% of the Municipality’s electricity costs and support circular economy principles. The project also includes the development of a financial sustainability roadmap within GCAP2 to enhance the Municipality’s long-term financial stability.
The EBRD noted that the project contributes to advancing the “green transition” through the implementation of a final cover layer for the fifth cell, which contains 15 layers of compacted waste with a total exceeding 6.7 million tons of compacted municipal solid waste.
The project is expected to reduce methane emissions and air pollutants that could escape into the atmosphere or cause localized incidents within the landfill, while enhancing energy recovery from landfill gas and increasing renewable energy generation on a power grid that relies heavily on fossil fuels, according to the Bank.
The approval of the new financing comes as part of efforts to address the status of the fifth cell at the Ghabawi landfill, which was launched in 2018. The current financing is directed toward its engineered closure and connection to gas recovery and leachate management systems, as part of completing follow-on investments under Amman’s Green City Plan and its update to GCAP2, with the integration of new priorities including digital considerations, gender equality, and human capital development.
