Abstract
This paper evaluates the viability of anaerobic digestion technology as a treatment process
for organic waste with an intention of solving the landfill crisis as well as mitigation of
greenhouse gases. The proposed technology consists of two digesters system using soaking as a
pre-treatment method, and with recirculation of the process water and digested sludge. A
financial model was developed to evaluate the economic feasibility of this technology as a
renewable energy. Instead of the waste decomposing at local landfills, is converted into a source
of energy while the by-products of the process are treated and used as fertilizers. This
technology will require a capital investment of R 2, 2773,900 with a capacity to treat 730000 kg
of waste annually. The annual production cost of R1, 269,138 was calculated. The proposed
model has debt repayments of R 2,478,551. The total revenue from year 2 – 5 was R 2,360,800,
R 2,930,158, R 3,457,314.6 and R 3,988,407.6, respectively. These AD facilities can produce
up to 110960 kWh per annum of biogas fuel. The net present value of R3, 042,592, internal rate
of return (IRR) of 33% and (BCR) of 1.96 shows that the technology is economically feasible.