15 September 2008

THE City of Cape Town’s former landfill sites at Swartklip, Faure, Gordon’s Bay and Table View are to be turned into attractive public open spaces suitable for recreation.

The landfill sites could also provide a valuable source of methane gas, says Councillor Clive Justus, Mayoral Committee Member for the Utility Services Portfolio.

To convert these sites, R41 million has been budgeted to be spent in the current financial year and a further R71 million will be spent in the following two financial years.

The cost of rehabilitation of these landfill sites can be offset by converting the methane gas - which is a by-product of the landfill sites – into an alternative energy source.

“The City has entered into a memorandum of understanding with a subsidiary company of the National Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs, to capture and beneficially use the methane gas that is produced as part of the natural decomposition processes of the waste. This gas has potential value as a source of energy.

“The capture of the gas is undertaken through the introduction of a series of ‘gas wells’ drilled into the landfill material along with an underground pipe network. This will eliminate the uncontrolled discharge of the gas to the atmosphere. The gas can then be used as a fuel and be converted into an alternative energy source such as electricity. This, in turn, can produce financial returns for the City from the sale of electricity. It can also be a source of valuable carbon credits which can be sold into the international carbon market,” Councillor Justus said.

He said this was important because the cost of covering and rehabilitating Council landfill sites had risen substantially.

The main reasons include rapidly escalating fuel costs, the need for considerable plant intensive work and the use of materials such as imported HDPE (high density polyethylene), GCL (geosynthetic clay) covers, clay, stone, topsoil and re-vegetation.

Source: Capetown.gov.za