IGNIS - Income Generation & Climate Protection by Valorising Municipal Solid Wastes in a Sustainable Way in Emerging Megacities of Tomorrow, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Project duration: 06/2008 - 05/2013

Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa. Due to structural deficits Addis Ababa is presently facing a plethora of problems. Some of the most urgent problems are insufficient solid and liquid waste management as well as a growing unemployment and poverty rate.
Accordingly, the main objective of IGNIS is to valorise municipal solid waste in a sustainable manor, what will contribute to job creation and in addition will have positive effects on greenhouse gas emissions and local environmental protection. The bases of IGNIS are pilot projects such as composting, anaerobic digestion, recycling, improved collection, etc. on a decentralised level.
After implementation the pilot projects will be analysed scientifically in terms of technology, greenhouse gases (GHG), emissions, and socio-economic and occupational safety and health related aspects. The data generated by these analyses will be utilised to model and simulate the effects of the pilot project on the present situation in Addis Ababa (baseline). By means of the simulation it is intended to find out, which of the pilot projects might be most successful regarding the above mentioned objectives.

So far two pilot projects have been started: The first one is a small scale paper recycling manufactory producing paper sheets, which are then transferred into final products such as post cards, photo frames, etc. The other project is a small composting plant located in “Gerji”, where source separately collected biowaste is treated.