Kathmandu, May 6: It is said the increasing pollution caused by solid waste in the Kathmandu valley could be managed by using the municipal waste to generate electricity for lighting purposes.

Ang Kim Leng, managing director of the Metrowaste Management, a Malaysian company, disclosed at a programme here on Friday. Mr Leng claimed that the solid waste collected from the city could be used to generate electricity by means of a mobile incinerator. He said the incinerator plant yields only five per cent ash and this ash could be used in road construction. This technology would help resolve the ever-increasing problem of managing solid waste in the city and to generate electricity, Mr Leng added.

The Malaysian Company is learnt to have made a proposal for installing a 400 metric tonnes per day municipal waste incineration plant with power generation of 4 megawatt. The company only needs 2 hectares land on rent for installtion of the plant ,it is learnt.

It is said the company would itself bear the Rs 1 billion installation cost of the project. The company intends to recover the project cost by taking certain charge on the solid waste brought for incineration and sell the electricity generated from it as a source of income.

One of the advantages of the technology is that it minimizes foul smell from the solid waste and also the air issuing out of the incinerator plant is non-toxic and pollution-free, Mr. Ang Kim Leng said. Minister of State for Local Development Suresh Malla, Representative of the National Planning Commission and environmentalists were present at the programme.