The Water Development Department (WDD) in Cyprus is in talks with Vassiliko Cement Works to use byproducts generated at the municipal waste treatment plant at Pentakomo as alternative fuels as an alternative to landfill.

The government would have to pay Vassiliko to take in the SRF/RDF sludge, reported the Cyprus Mail. Vassiliko has requested additional sample analyses of the byproduct to determine whether the RDF/SRF mix suits its needs.

The WDD said that it might be possible for the Pentakomo plant to modify its equipment to separate the RDF from the SRF, should this be necessary.

George Savva, deputy general manager and CFO of Vassiliko Cement Works, confirmed in an email response that the company's subsidiary Enerco-Energy Recovery Ltd was among 14 other companies who responded to the WDD's request of proposals issued on 26 September 2017.

A senior manager from the WDD was subsequently appointed to act as project supervisor and a point of contact between Vassiliko and the Pentakomo treatment plant.

"A preliminary timetable with milestones was defined…The first sampling and tests carried out so far have indicated that there is still much work to be done at Pentakomo before the product can be suitable according to our specific needs and requirements."

Savva said his company are "interested in using a suitable treated and packaged waste from Pentakomo. However, I should point out that there are costs both in investments required as well as in daily operations for preparing and feeding the end product in our plant. There is thus a gate fee for taking in the product (SRF or any other).

"Gate fees vary from product to product and depend on a number of parameters such as moisture content, calorific value, and other parameters which can affect the process stability of our kiln operation."