ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”), announced that BEO ČISTA ENERGIJA. (hereinafter “BCE”), a project company funded by ITOCHU, VEOLIA, a leading French water and environmental utility company, and Marguerite Fund, a pan-European equity fund investing in renewables, have completed construction of the Energy-from-Waste facility of the Belgrade Waste Management Public-Private Partnership project and commenced commercial operation for the next 25 years based on a PPP contract.

The Vinča landfill located near Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia, has been emitting 90 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) (CO2 equivalent) in total for about the last 45 years due to the inappropriate landfill disposal of waste treatment. Moreover, the polluted water leaking into the Danube River is causing environmental pollution, especially in the downstream area, creating a major environmental and social problem for the Republic of Serbia. The governments of the Republic of Serbia and the City of Belgrade urgently needed to close the landfill as soon as possible and replace it with a waste treatment plant which would have a lower environmental impact. This led to the signing of a contract with the City of Belgrade in September 2017 for the development and construction of the first integrated waste management system in the Republic of Serbia, utilizing project financing provided by the International Finance Corporation(IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBDR), and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (Austria’s Development Bank “OeEB”).

The Energy-from-Waste facility constructed under the project has the capacity to incinerate 340,000 tons per year, equivalent to about 70% of the municipal solid waste generated by the entire city of Belgrade. The project will supply clean electricity to approximately 30,000 households, equivalent to 5% of the city’s total households, and heat to approximately 60,000 households, equivalent to 10% of the city's total households, which will be generated when incinerating the waste. In addition, a Landfill gas Engine Facility using methane gas generated from the old dumpsite and the new sanitary landfill, a Leachate treatment facility to treat contaminated water from the landfill, and a Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Facility to recover recyclable construction waste for use as construction materials will be constructed and put into operation. These facilities are expected to provide a comprehensive solution to Belgrade’s environmental and social concerns.

In addition, the project obtained Certification of Carbon Credit by Gold Standard, the international certification organization, in 2022. With an annual GHG reduction of 210,000 tons (CO2 equivalent), the project will generate high-quality credits for the voluntary carbon market, thereby contributing to the realization of a decarbonized society not only in the Republic of Serbia but also globally.

ITOCHU has put forth a new management policy, “The Brand-New Deal: Profit opportunities are shifting downstream,” and is pursuing a policy of enhancing its contribution to and engagement with the SDGs through business activities" while listening to all stakeholders, including the market, society, and consumers. Water and waste-related projects are a key area, and ITOCHU is currently participating in Energy-from-Waste projects in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), as well as in an industrial waste treatment project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ITOCHU will continue to contribute to creating a decarbonized and sustainable society and reducing the burden on the global environment through its businesses.