A garbage recycling plant will be constructed in Vanadzor till the end of the year where garbage will be assorted, recycled and sold at different markets of Armenia.

The initiator of the project is ‘Clean Land’ LCC which applied to the City Council of Vanadzor and got the right to assorting and recycling the garbage for a 25-year period.

The plant will be the first of its kind in Vanadzor, (Lori province) where now household garbage is transferred to the dump in the village of Arjut, about 15 kilometers far from Vanadzor.

“Usually 15 percent of the garbage later becomes usable raw material as a result of recycling,” says Tigran Gabrielyan, Director of ‘Clean Land’.

About 30 employees, with the help of special equipments will separate those materials from the garbage (brought to the plant from the whole territory of the town), which might be usable as a result of recycling and consumed in the market.

For example, paper, plastic will be separated from the household garbage, that is to say, those materials which can become usable products as a result of recycling. The leftover will be transferred to dump in the village of Arjut by the vehicles of the four garbage collection enterprises in Vanadzor.

“This is for the first time that the volumes of garbage taken to Arjut will be decreased, and it is favorable for the environment, since the garbage, being burnt in the dump, harms the environment,” says Suren Karapetyan, head of the Department for Programs and External Relations at Vanadzor Municipality.

The other profit of Vanadzor (besides garbage assorting and recycling) is that 36 million drams (about $96,500) will enter the town’s budget annually as the cost of the right obtained to assort the household garbage.

Karapetyan says that, according to the agreement signed between Vanadzor Municipality and ‘Clean Land’ LCC, the amount of money paid to the local budget will be reviewed biannually taking into consideration the further growth in prices of the raw materials obtained as a result of the garbage recycling; as well as the quantity change of Vanadzor population (charges for garbage collection are determined depending on the number of residents).

Daily 100 cubic/meters garbage is transferred from Vanadzor to Arjut’s dump. The garbage collection is implemented by four enterprises, which will get 180 million drams (more than $482,000) from the budget instead of the 120 million drams ($321,000) it was getting before.

Karapetyan believes that the money paid by ‘Clean Land’ will improve Vanadzor’s garbage collection process. It will be possible to buy new garbage transferring and street-washing vehicles, as well as new garbage bins. On the other hand, the local budget will manage to have annual savings, since as a result of garbage assorting the volumes of the garbage taken to Arjut’s dump will be decreased; hence the expenses spent on them will also reduce.

“We will also have savings in garbage transferring expenses,” believes Karabetyan.

It is planned to construct household garbage assorting plants not only in Vanadzor, but also in other towns of Armenia – Gyumri, Echmiadzin, Hrazdan.

The Company is planning to collect the assorted household garbage from five towns’ plants and take it to another – recycling plant.

“It is not clear yet where exactly the recycling plant will be constructed – in Yerevan or Echmiadzin,” says Gabrielyan.

‘Clean Land’ is planning to get ready products from the recycling plant subject to sale. It is necessary that those products have the quality of the products that had been reduced to garbage. “We should get paper from paper,” says Gabrielyan.

‘Clean Land’ is currently choosing a location for the plant in Vanadzor. As soon as they decide on the location for the future plant, construction works and equipment installation will start.

People in Vanadzor accepted this initiative with great enthusiasm. Everyone understands that not only the town’s garbage collection will be improved but also Arjut’s dump will shake off its dirty burden.