Mauritius has a big decision to make. Its only landfill is at max capacity and now the government must decide to either turn to incinerating waste that would generate electricity in the process or to compost it for farmers. The landfill’s site Mare Chicose, located in the southwest of the island, originally had a lifespan of 20 years, but that figure has since been reduced to eight after its daily waste capacity of 300 tons skyrocketed to 1,200 tons.
The government has proposed to contract a local firm Gamma Civic and a US firm Covanta to install an incinerator generator at La Chaumière that will dispose of three-quarters of the waste while generating electricity to help meet energy demands.
Currently, 80% of the island’s electricity is produced from petroleum-based fuel. The joint venture called Gamma Energy Ltd. would invest around $160 million in a plant that will turn 300,000 tons of solid waste annually to produce 24 MW of electricity or about 6% of national demand. The electricity would then be sold to the national electricity provider, the Central Electricity Board.