GAJA
A new biogas and composting plant for the Capital Area will be operating by midyear 2020. The construction of a biogas and composting plant in Álfsnes is the next major step in environmental issues in the Capital Area. The station is part of a joint waste management policy by the municipalities for 2009–2020. Once the biogas and composting plant is operational, all household waste collected in SORPA's domain will be processed at the station. Organic matter will be used for biogas production and composting, while metals and inorganic matter will be mechanically sorted for recycling.
The final building permit was issued by the City of Reykjavík on October 9th 2018, and construction work began on the very same day. The processing technology is based on a patent from Aikan Solum AS in Denmark, while the station itself was designed by Batteríið Architects. Mannvit Engineering is the technical consultant. The building is 12,800 m2 in size, and the station will handle up to 35,000 tonnes of organic household waste. The objective is the best possible utilisation of all organic waste generated in households in the Capital Area (food remains, pet waste, etc.) – not only utilising the nutrients contained in organic household waste, but also the energy generated by the decomposition of waste. Each year, the station will generate 3 million Nm3 of methane gas, which can be used as vehicle fuel, and 10–12,000 tonnes of soil improvers, which are useful for soil conservation. Once the biogas and composting plant is up and running, over 95% of the household waste generated in the Capital Area will be reused.
