Casablanca is set to launch a major waste treatment and recovery project that will convert 4,000 tons of daily household waste into electricity, covering roughly one-third of its street lighting needs and part of its household energy demand.
The project, worth around MAD 14 billion, is part of a broader push to modernize waste management in the city, reduce pollution from the Médiouna landfill and cut carbon emissions.
The landfill site has long been a source of complaints from nearby residents over strong odors, insects and concerns about air quality and groundwater contamination.
According to media reports, the planned project in Majjate Oulad Taleb in Médiouna province, spanning about 260 hectares, will convert household waste into electricity, enough to power around 30% of public lighting and about 20% of household electricity needs.
The project was initially planned as a waste sorting and recovery facility before being redesigned as a waste-to-energy plant producing electricity.
The process generally involves burning household waste—including materials such as paper, plastic, wood and yard waste, in a controlled furnace to produce heat. This heat turns water into steam, which powers turbines to generate electricity.
Before being released, emissions pass through pollution control systems that remove harmful substances, while ash is collected from boilers and filtration units.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, waste-to-energy plants can reduce waste volume by about 87%, turning 900 kilograms of garbage into between 136 and 272 kilograms of ash.
“Simply burying waste means losing both economic and energy value while creating long-term environmental and financial costs,” Ayoub Krir, an environmental researcher and president of the Oxygen Association for Environment and Health, told Hespress English.
He said the project marks a major shift in how Moroccan cities manage waste, moving from landfill disposal to treating waste as a source of energy and economic value.
This is particularly significant in Casablanca, where Mayor Nabila Rmili previously said the city produces around 4,000 tons of household and similar waste every day, including about 7 tons of green waste.
About 70% of this waste is organic, with high moisture content, requiring specialized treatment to separate it from leachate—a harmful liquid that is difficult to process.
The project also reflects a broader rise in waste generation across Morocco. A World Bank report released earlier this year projects annual waste to reach 17.6 million tons by 2050, up from 7.4 million tons in 2022, placing the country in the mid-range of waste producers in the MENA region.
To better manage growing waste volumes, Morocco has already developed a similar waste-to-energy project in Fez in 2015.
That project, worth nearly €10 million, processes around 900 tons of waste per day to produce gas for electricity generation, helping cover about 30% of energy needs and cutting public lighting costs by nearly 40%, according to media reports.
Waste-to-energy projects are also gaining traction across the Arab region, as countries move away from landfill disposal toward using waste to power homes, street lighting and other infrastructure, including in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Yemen, Qatar and Iraq.
“Waste can be a more stable source of electricity than solar or wind, since cities generate it every day, allowing consistent energy production,” Krir said.
However, he warned that the project’s success will depend not only on electricity output but also on effective waste sorting, environmental monitoring and strict compliance with emissions standards.
Krir added that waste incineration facilities require close oversight of emissions, ash and industrial wastewater, stressing that without transparency and environmental regulation, such projects could create new pollution risks instead of solving existing ones.
The project could also reduce methane emissions from decomposing organic waste in landfills—a major greenhouse gas linked to climate change—while improving living conditions in surrounding areas.
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