On January 25, 2023, "EcoLur" Informational NGO sent a letter to Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan regarding Nubarashen landfill site, which says:
"According to the decision N204-A of Yerevan Aldermen’s Council dated on September 9, 2014, the document on joining the initiative of the European Union "Covenant of Mayors" signed by Yerevan Mayor on November 25, 2014 was submitted to Aldermen’s Council on June 24, 2016 N 558 - approved "Sustainable Energy Development Action Plan" of Yerevan Town.
According to the plan, energy savings in municipal solid waste management should be 7,000 MWh/year, CO2 emission reduction 44,644 tons or 18% by 2020. Methane recovery and electricity generation were planned from Nubarashen municipal solid waste landfill site.
In accordance with Article 6 of RA Law "On Freedom of Information", please inform:
- After the completion of the biogas collection and burning project at the Nubarashen landfill in 2023, is it planned to continue methane burning at Nubarashen landfill site and which company will carry out this work?
- Why electricity production was not carried out in Nubarashen landfill site. In this case, how much was the annual energy saving in the Nubarashen landfill site and how much greenhouse gas emissions were actually reduced in the landfill during 2009-2023?
- At what stage is "Yerevan solid waste management program", as within its framework the construction of a new sanitary landfill site near Nubarashen and the closedown of Nubarashen landfill are planned.
- Does the extension of "Yerevan Solid Waste Management Project" implementation period cause any problems from the point of view of credit obligations?
- At what stage are the activities of the implementation of the measures within "Consider the possibility of building a waste sorting and processing plant within the framework of public-private partnership" and "Development of a ten-year waste management plan for Yerevan" planned by Yerevan's green action plan.
In response, on February 6, Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan informed in letter No. 01/16562-23:
According to the application of the Japanese side, the agreement signed between Yerevan Municipality and Shimidzu Corporation on 10.03.2009 under the CDM project "On the implementation of biogas collection works at Nubarashen landfill site" was terminated based on the agreement signed between the parties on 31.10.2021, and according to According to Yerevan Mayor's decision No. 271-A of January 26, 2022, the biogas collection and burning plant at the Nubarashen solid waste landfill was provided to "Yerevan Municipal New Landfill" CJSC for further operation and maintenance.
As a result of the reduction of greenhouse gases in Nubarashen landfill site, electricity production was not carried out due to the discrepancy between the actual and expected results of methane gas extraction during the project, depending on the quantitative and qualitative indicators of the extracted gas. I should also add that during the period between 2009 and 2023, the volume of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (equivalent to CO2 gas emissions) amounted to 176,959 tons.
The tender for the closedown of Nubarashen and Ajapnyak landfill sites and the construction of the new Nubarashen landfill site on September 1, 2022 has been cancelled.
Currently, within the framework of the technical assistance provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a study is being conducted to find out the reasons for the failure of the aforementioned tender, as well as a technical and economic study is being carried out in order to define the format and standards of the new tender to be announced.
As for the emergence of problems related to credit obligations as a result of extending the implementation period of Yerevan's solid waste management program, let's note that this loan is a sovereign loan and the RA Ministry of Finance can provide an appropriate clarification.
The implementation of the "possibility of building a waste sorting and recycling plant within the framework of public-private partnership" provided by Yerevan's green action plan will be considered after the construction of the new sanitary landfill site.