An open dump on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will be turned into Africa’s first garbage power plant, providing local residents with clean energy. The power plant will adopt Chinese technologies and equipment, serving as an example for the continent’s resource regeneration and garbage disposal.

The 36-hectare Reppi Sanitary Landfill, also known as "koshe" (dirt) in Amharic, has been Ethiopia’s biggest rubbish site for over half a century, with millions of tons of garbage from Addis Ababa dumped there. The landfill has severely damaged its surrounding environment, polluting ground water and causing a waste landslide in March that claimed the lives of at least 115 people.

In an effort to tackle the severe environmental problems caused by waste, the Ethiopian government has invested $100 million in building a garbage power plant, which will be constructed by the Chinese National Engineering Corporation (CNEC) and will burn garbage that cannot be recycled to generate electricity. The project was launched in 2014 and is expected to be put into use in September of this year.

According to the People’s Daily, rubbish will first be put into a sealed space to ferment. After fermentation, the waste will be burned, producing vapors to generate electricity. The pollutants in the rubbish will be carefully disposed of, while the smog produced in the process will be discharged according to European emissions standards. The burned waste will shrink by 80 percent in size and can either be buried or used as construction materials.

“The construction of the garbage power plant is [an instance of] environmental protection cooperation between the Chinese and Ethiopian governments. It can dispose of 1,280 tons of household garbage daily, and all rubbish will be burned inside the power plant without producing pollutants, simultaneously generating clean electricity,” He Yaoguo, vice director of CNEC, told the People’s Daily.

According to He, China has built over 200 garbage power plants in the past decade. The Ethiopian government and Ethiopian companies recognize China’s experience and technologies in the field, which is why the new power plant will adopt Chinese standards, technologies and equipment.