Lancement de l'étude pour la création d'un nouveau centre de traitement et de valorisation des déchets à Tunis.

Monday, September the 25th, at the Tunis municipality’s headquarter, an important study was launched to equip the Great Tunis region with a new solid waste treatment and recovery plant. 

Financed to the tune of 500,000 USD by the African Development Bank's Urban and Municipal Development Fund, this study involves consultation and coordination between a wide range of stakeholders: the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Environment, the Tunis Governorate, specialized agencies and 38 municipalities of the Greater Tunis area, who gathered for the launch meeting.

The aim is to establish a strategy for modernizing waste collection schemes, promoting recycling channels, proposing recovery techniques, countering the saturation of existing treatment centers and preventing waste from ending up in landfill or being burnt.

The main challenges of the study will be to identify a suitable location for the new treatment center, and to design a project that will attract private investors.

In her opening address, Malinne Blomeberg, representing the African Development Bank, stressed the importance of tackling the problems generated by waste, both in terms of people's health and greenhouse gas emissions (waste burning accounts for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet).

The study, which is scheduled to take almost a year to be completed, will involve a full diagnosis of the current situation, consultation workshops, proposals for technical solutions and economic-financial modeling. The final report should inform the decisions taken by the stakeholders and facilitate the mobilization of financing within a public-private partnership (PPP) framework.