Addis Ababa City Administration will construct a large sanitary landfill in Sendafa town.

The city is offering up a $27.6 million international tender to construct the landfill which will cover an area of 136ha. Once complete it will be devoted to the treatment of waste from Addis Ababa and eight towns in the Special Zone.

Alemayehu Name, vice director of the Addis Ababa Waste Recycling & Disposal Project Office, told Addis Fortune that the project will cost $27.6 million. The project includes conducting an environmental impact assessment, drawing up a socio-economic plan, conducting a study on the nature of dry waste, the construction of the sanitary landfill and the construction of transfer stations.

The site where the landfill will be constructed is currently being fencing off. According to Name, four large holes, with plastic coating to protect ground water, will be dug at the site; the first is expected to come into use after a year. Three transfer stations are to be built in Repi, Akaki and Bole Arabsa.

Addis Ababa’s waste was previously disposed at the Repi waste disposal site, commonly known as Qoshe. The site was the only dumping ground for all waste in the City for close to 50 years and 19% of it is now closed. The site is expected to be fully closed in early 2015.