Chile Santiago Composting Project

The objective of the Santiago Composting Project for Chile is to build and operate a composting facility to treat urban biodegradable waste and non-toxic wastewater sludge. The plant will use at least 20 percent of the organic waste generated in Metropolitan Santiago. On average, the composting plant will treat approximately 216,000 tons of waste per year that would be disposed in a sanitary landfill if the plant were not constructed. The Santiago Composting Project will mitigate nearly 326,000 tCO2-e per year and will receive Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), often referred as carbon credits. The project will also contribute towards achieving sustainable waste management for the capital city of Santiago. The design and operation of this project, in conjunction with the avoidance of methane emissions and production of compost as a soil amendment (and a source of revenues), will serve as an example to many urban areas in the country that are facing similar waste management challenges. The project will also demonstrate that the carbon credit finance mechanism can catalyze environmentally sustainable and profitable waste management practices. The project in the first of it type in Latin America.