As part of the delegated management contract linking it to the city of Meknes since 2014, the SUEZ Group has built a unique waste disposal and recovery center (CEV) in Morocco that meets the sustainable development objectives set by the authorities. Benjamin Vauthier, CEO of North Africa of the SUEZ Group, looks back on almost a decade in the service of the cleanliness of the Ismaili capital.
Eight years following the commissioning of the Meknes CEV, how have the technical or technological processes applied on this site evolved?
The Meknes landfill has been completely transformed since 2014, when the SUEZ contract started. From an open-air waste dump, the site has become a disposal and recovery center that meets international standards. SUEZ is continuously modernizing the site so that it maintains its high economic, social and environmental performance. Among the processes implemented at the centre, which make it a reference on a national and continental scale, we can cite the leachate treatment station. The Meknes center is proud to be the first and only center in Morocco to guarantee an exemplary treatment of leachate which, it should be remembered, constitutes a major challenge for the management of landfills in the Kingdom, given the high humidity rate. garbage. Today, the treatment process makes it possible to produce water that complies with discharge into the natural environment. Circularity, the basic principle of our actions, is applied in the treatment of leachate since the site was equipped, a few years ago, with Evalix, a SUEZ patented unit, unprecedented and unique in Morocco, whose mission is the drying of the concentrates.
The disposal and recovery center in Meknes has a system for capturing biogas, methane gas, 28 times more harmful than CO2. By capturing this biogas, SUEZ not only contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also produces a source of energy to power the Evalix mentioned above.
Let’s not forget the sorting center housing the cooperative of 180 scavengers which SUEZ helped to create. This social innovation makes it possible to help improve the living and working conditions of sorters. We hope to soon mechanize all sorting operations at the centre.
In terms of energy, is the site totally autonomous today?
Today, we produce enough biogas to operate the unit for drying concentrates from leachate treatment. In addition, a few months ago we launched a program to extend and strengthen the biogas capture wells, the objective being to achieve a capture rate of 70%, which will enable us to produce from the year clean and green energy that will be used initially to make the site 100% autonomous.
How is the CEV of Meknes positioned today, at the national level, in terms of environmental protection?
The site is fully in line with Morocco’s guidelines in terms of sustainable development and environmental protection. His Majesty the King’s desire to make the Kingdom an environmental example is a catalyst for all stakeholders in the sector.
The management of all the site’s ecological issues by SUEZ (landfill, biogas, treatment of leachate, etc.), the continuous search for operational excellence and the introduction of new innovations strengthen the leadership of our center. Moreover, the site is not only a “flagship” for the SUEZ Group internationally, but also a showcase for the city of Meknes and for the Kingdom.
Our ambition is obviously to continue in this direction. As such, we plan to set up a biodiversity preservation program on the site, in partnership with academic and associative actors, with solutions promoting a significant improvement in the ecological quality of the environments, both on the perimeter activity of the site and that of its residents.
Is the management of leachates totally mastered today?
Absolutely. The industrial leachate treatment process used by SUEZ at the CEV in Meknes is efficient, unique in Morocco and adapted to local specificities. This process makes it possible to guarantee a quality of treatment compliant with discharge into the natural environment, while producing water that can be used for irrigation. 56,000 m3 of leachate are treated there each year. In total, the site has treated nearly 220,000 m3 of leachate since its start-up.
The treatment combines an ultra¬Â ltration membrane bioreactor and a reverse osmosis filtration station with sludge dehydration and heat treatment of the concentrates at Evalix. In October 2021, we reinforced the existing leachate treatment station by commissioning a new treatment unit with an additional treatment capacity of 100 m3 per day.
Concretely, what is the contribution of this site to the local population?
The center of Meknes has a positive impact on the climate through the capture and reuse of biogas, on the circular economy through the recovery of materials and the production of compost, and on water resources through the production of water reusable. Without forgetting that for the inhabitants of the city and those living near the site, olfactory and landscape nuisances have been considerably reduced, and the site has contributed significantly to anchoring and local employment.
“Green Landfill”, landfill 2.0… so many names to describe SUEZ’s ambitions to make the Meknes CEV a kind of totally green landfill. Where are you today in relation to this project?
Green Landfill is a concept applied to disposal and recovery centers that SUEZ has developed. This concept provides 3 major benefits: a site anchored in the surrounding ecosystem, recovery of household waste and a solution adapted and adaptable to developing countries.
Thus, SUEZ offers Moroccan cities a new approach to waste management on landfill sites, by exploiting all the resources to make them sites with a positive impact: no methane emissions from waste, a positive energy balance, no leachate discharged into the natural environment with reuse of water produced in agriculture to cope with water stress.
For the center of Meknes, the projects are numerous: an additional investment is in progress and will allow the capture of more biogas and thus the reduction of greenhouse gases while certifying the site. We continue to diversify our recovery tools and methods, whether material or energy, with recovery rate targets that exceed market standards. Finally, we are strengthening the partnerships between SUEZ and its stakeholders in order to make the site a space for hatching and putting into practice new environmental innovations for the benefit of the country.
