ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that, together with France-based SUEZ, it was awarded a 25-year waste management and resource recovery project following an international tender held by the City of Belgrade, Republic of Serbia and signed the Public Private Partnership (“PPP”) Contract on September 29, 2017. This project is the first major PPP project in Serbia. ITOCHU’s UK subsidiary, I-Environment Investments Ltd. will hold a 50% stake in Beo Čista Energija (“BCE”), the newly established project company.

The project will undertake to build and operate an Energy-from-Waste facility to treat 340,000 tons of municipal waste annually, equivalent to around 66% of the total municipal waste generated in Belgrade, and generate renewable heat and electricity equivalent to power consumption for approximately 30,000 households in Serbia. The project scope also includes the closure and remediation of the existing Vinča landfill, the construction and operation of a new leachate-controlled landfill and a facility for processing 200,000 tons per annum of construction and demolition waste.

Vinča landfill has been in operation since 1977 and is one of the largest open dumping landfills remaining in Europe. There is a pressing need for its early closure and the introduction of an environmentally friendly waste management system in order to improve the environment of the surrounding area.

Serbia is aiming to join the European Union and this project is in line with its policy of meeting the EU’s waste management standards by 2023. ITOCHU will contribute to Serbia’s environment conservation and achieving the EU standards by reducing waste volume landfilled and greenhouse gas emissions (approx. 3 million tons of CO₂ emissions reduced in 25 years) with the introduction of proper waste treatment facility.

ITOCHU has developed and invested in similar preceding projects in the UK with SUEZ; South Tyne & Wear Partnership (press release on April 28, 2011), Cornwall (press release on April 12, 2013), West London (press release on November 28, 2013), and Merseyside (press release on December 24, 2013), which in aggregate treat around 1.3 million tons of waste annually, accounting for roughly 15% of the waste incineration market of the UK.

Backed by its experience with waste management projects in the UK and Serbia, ITOCHU aims to expand its involvement in regions expecting greater demand for eco-friendliness and clean energy, such as Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Asia.