At the sprawling Oued Laya landfill outside Tunis, a faint hum breaks the usual silence of a desolate site. This isn’t the sound of more garbage trucks arriving; it’s the sound of a revolution. Here, methane—a potent greenhouse gas once destined to leak into the atmosphere—is being captured, converted, and funneled into the national grid. It’s a tangible sign of Tunisia’s ambitious pivot: turning its mounting waste crisis into a strategic energy source.
Facing chronic energy dependency, with over 90% of its electricity generated from imported natural gas, and severe environmental pressures from deforestation and landfill overflows, Tunisia is betting on a circular economy fix. The nation is now actively transforming household and organic waste into power and fuel through a combination of landfill gas capture and innovative biomass conversion, aiming to light homes, protect forests, and reclaim its energy sovereignty.
Harnessing the “Bad Air”
The UN-Habitat-led project at Oued Laya is a flagship example. As organic waste decomposes anaerobically in the landfill, it emits biogas, primarily methane. Instead of allowing this gas to exacerbate climate change, a network of wells now captures it. The gas feeds into a micro-cogeneration unit, producing both electricity and heat. This pilot has demonstrated a dual victory: reducing harmful emissions and generating a steady, local stream of power for nearby communities.
“This is about seeing landfill sites not as endpoints, but as resource reservoirs,” explains a project engineer on site. “We’re mitigating an environmental hazard and creating value simultaneously.”
The state-owned Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) is scaling this vision, collaborating on pilot projects aiming to convert the nation’s estimated 10,000 tonnes of daily municipal waste into a significant electricity supply.
The Olive’s Second Life
Beyond landfills, Tunisia’s agricultural heartland is yielding another kind of power. The olive oil industry, a cornerstone of the economy, leaves behind a massive problem: olive pomace, a fibrous, seed-strewn waste. Traditionally discarded or used inefficiently, it’s now the raw material for a clean energy startup boom.
Companies like Bioheat are taking this pomace, drying it, and compressing it into dense, clean-burning briquettes. These briquettes offer a sustainable alternative to firewood, directly combating the rampant deforestation that has left Tunisia critically vulnerable to climate change.
“A family using our briquettes instead of wood saves several trees a year,” says Mehdi Ben Hassine, founder of a biomass startup. “We’re addressing an energy need for households and bakeries while protecting the environment. It’s a win-win born from waste.”
Vast Potential, Strategic Methods
The potential is staggering. Experts estimate that Tunisia’s organic waste—from food scraps, agricultural residues, and olive waste—could cover a significant portion of the national energy demand by 2030 if fully harnessed. The key technologies driving this shift are elegantly suited to the context:
- Anaerobic Digestion: Using bacteria to break down organic matter in controlled digesters, producing biogas for energy and nutrient-rich biofertilizer for farms.
- Micro-Cogeneration: Efficiently using captured biogas to produce both electricity and usable heat, maximizing energy yield.
- Briquette Production: Mechanically compacting organic waste into solid, high-energy fuel logs for heating.
The driving goals are clear: enhance energy independence, build a circular economy where waste is a feedstock, and secure profound environmental benefits—from lower greenhouse emissions and cleaner air to reduced landfill pressure and restored forests.
The Road to 2030
The future pathway is mapped in policy. The National Agency for Energy Management’s (ANME) National Biomass Action Plan targets 100 MW of biomass power capacity by 2030. Analysts concur that landfill gas recovery and anaerobic digestion are among the most viable and immediately scalable waste-to-energy options for Tunisia.
The journey from trash to energy is not without hurdles—requiring sustained investment, streamlined waste collection, and public awareness. Yet, across Tunisia’s landscapes, from high-tech landfill wells to rural briquette workshops, a new narrative is being written. It’s a story where yesterday’s refuse becomes tomorrow’s fuel, powering a more resilient and self-sufficient nation.
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
