Proposal Aims to Turn Rubbish Into Electricity

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A proposal to cut landfill use by turning Bahrain’s rubbish into electricity has been lodged in Parliament, with new plants also aimed at creating skilled jobs for Bahrainis.

MP Dr Muneer Seroor called for plants that would recycle solid waste and turn it into power instead of burying it in the ground.

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, he said the plan would curb pollution, cut reliance on traditional energy sources and turn discarded material into power, fertiliser and paid work.

Dr Seroor also called for wider use of anaerobic digestion at waste treatment plants. The process breaks down food scraps, animal manure, sewage sludge and other organic waste without oxygen.

This produces biogas, which can be burned to make electricity or cleaned and upgraded into biomethane for use as fuel.

He said the European Union had made the method part of its waste and renewable energy policies.

European rules require member states to collect organic waste separately, allowing it to be sent to anaerobic digestion plants rather than dumped in landfill sites.

Dr Seroor said Bahrain would also need a system for sorting waste at source so food scraps and other biodegradable material could be collected on their own and sent for treatment.

An Arabian Gulf University study recommended using the method in Bahrain to deal with biodegradable waste and sewage sludge.

It estimated that a proposed plant could produce about 213.3 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, along with organic fertiliser, while cutting emissions by the equivalent of about 536,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Dr Seroor said such plants could create jobs for Bahrainis in engineering, operations, maintenance and waste management.

He said waste-to-energy methods were already in use in several countries, including Gulf states, and urged Bahrain to move ahead with earlier plans in the field.

The aim, he added, was to turn rubbish from a costly burden into a source of power, useful products and jobs.