Background – The disposal of organic materials, in particular food waste and green waste from parks and gardens, presents one of the biggest challenges for waste management in urban centers. Organic waste makes up over 60 percent of the total volume of waste in Bolivia. It is generally stored in open landfills where it pollutes the groundwater with landfill leachate and releases large volumes of methane gas as it decays. Methane, a dangerous “greenhouse gas”, traps heat 20 times more than CO2 and is seen by many as a major contributor to global warning. In contrast to the current situation, organic waste could actually be used to produce energy and work against global warning instead of polluting the air and the groundwater.

Project – Swisscontact can now build on the existing foundation from a running project in Bolivia’s cities to raise awareness and increase knowledge of waste sorting and recycling. In hundreds of neighborhoods, waste is now sorted and collected by type. However, organic waste, which is produced in huge volumes in local markets and parks, is not yet included in this waste collection system and ends up in the urban landfills – with all of the abovementioned negative consequences for the air and groundwater. In order to correctly collect this material and convert it into usable energy, investment in infrastructure is needed.

The pilot project of a simple biogas facility in Cochabamba will show that organic waste can be converted into biogas or electricity with the right technology. One byproduct of this process is highly-valuable fertilizer that can be sold or used by the cities for their parks. The amount of waste at the landfills is reduced, the groundwater is less polluted, a new source of electricity is created, and the farmers or municipalities benefit from the fertilizer. The biogas plant is both good for the environment and helps provide a higher income for the farmers.