Turkey's biggest city Istanbul's rubbish produces 340 million kilowatts-hours (kWh) of energy annually from 14,000听tonnes of waste, according to information听Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality provided to Anadolu Agency.
Inhabited by more than 14 million people,听Istanbul's waste听is听collected and gathered in storage fields by ISTAC A.S.,听which was founded as an affiliate of the municipality in 1994.听
The company collects around 14,000 tonnes听of garbage in Istanbul every day,听9,000 tonnes听from the European side at听four听transfer stations,听and听5,000 tonnes from the Asian side at听three听stations.听
Special vehicles make 450 and 250 trips听every day to听transport waste from Istanbul's European and Asian sides, respectively.听These are then听disposed into two sanitary landfill facilities in Istanbul, one听in each side of the city, to be transformed into electricity by various methods,听according to ISTAC A.S.听
When the waste stored in these sanitary landfill areas consumes听oxygen, and later decays without oxygen听with the help of anaerobic bacteria, a storage gas named landfill gas (LFG) is formed.听
Formation of the gas may change with the amount of organic waste inside the solid waste.听Methane,听the听combustible and explosive content of the storage gas,听has a greenhouse gas effect that is 23 times stronger than听carbon dioxide, according to ISTAC A.S.
The company plans to have an installed capacity of听25-30 megawatts (MW) for the Odayeri Sanitary Landfill area, and projects to听produce around听2,203 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power between 2007 and 2030.听It also targets to have an installed capacity of 10-15 MW听for the Komurcuoda Sanitary Landfill area to produce 1,136 GWh of power听between 2007 and 2030.
For over 20 years, ISTAC A.S. is engaged in constructing and managing sanitary landfills, refining garbage waters, producing electricity from biogas, composting from organic waste, managing industrial waste, collecting medical waste, recycling packing wastes, coastline and sea surface cleaning, energy production from wastes and consulting services.听
Reporting by听Ali Cevahir Akturk
Writing by Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr
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