By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Swiss government has approved financing support to the Karu Waste Management Project in Nasarawa State.
The proposed project aims to reduce the amount of waste for land filling and dumping within Karu by recovering and converting them to recyclable materials for useful products.
The wastes could also be turned to clean energy through the application of state-of-the-art technologies and best practices, the Vanguard reports.
The project is financed through its export platform Smart City Sweden.
The fund will be used to co-finance the Project’s Feasibility Study. The study is led by WSP Sweden and supported by the local firm, Natural Eco Capital Limited.
Head of Business Development Group at Smart City Sweden, Östen Ekengren stated: “Sweden has a long history as a pioneer in issues relating to the environment and sustainable development in a broader sense.
“We believe the Karu Waste-to-Energy Project not only has the potential to significantly improve the waste management system in Nasarawa State and the North-Central region of Nigeria, but also reduce the climate impact from the waste management sector and enhance the living conditions of the citizens.
“ We are very excited and look forward to working with the Beacon Energy Consortium on this project.”
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule expressed appreciation to the Swedish Government for supporting the first PPP Project in Nasarawa State.
He said: “With the involvement of Sweden, we are assured of a landmark project which aligns with the State’s development agenda. Hopefully, this will become a case study for other recycling and waste to energy projects across the region”.
Interim CEO of the Karu Integrated Waste Management Company (KIWMC), Obiora Okoye also said: “We’re very excited about the support from Sweden which comes following the completion of the Technical Audit of the Karu Recycling Plant. The funding support will provide us a better understanding of the market opportunity and the design options for our larger recycling and Waste-to-Energy project.”