The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Thursday it would lend US$200 million to China to help develop waste-to-energy plants.

The loan would be the ADB's first private-sector municipal solid waste management project, said Jo Yamagata, deputy director general of ADB's Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD).

Yamagata said the loan, maturing in up to 10 years with a three-year grace period, would be offered to China Everbright International Limited (CEIL), a leading environmental protection firm in China listed in Hong Kong.

Philip Y. Fan, executive director and general manager of CEIL, said of all waste treatment technologies, waste-to-energy technology was regarded as the most effective in treating urban areas' solid waste.

He said CEIL planned to invest 10 billion yuan in 30 environment projects in China, and 6.6 billion yuan for 26 projects had already been invested.

"The ADB loan will be used partly for our new waste-to-energy plants, with two plants already under way in Shandong and Jiangsu Provinces," said Fan.

"Waste-to-energy processing with clean technology is the most effective method of treating municipal solid waste since it cuts volume by 90 percent and eliminates methane gas emissions from the process," said Hisaka Kimura, an investment specialist in ADB's PSOD.

The ADB will also provide a technical assistance grant of up to US$653,000 from its Clean Energy Fund to evaluate the performance of the plants.

Lessons learned during the construction of these projects would be introduced to other ADB developing member countries to encourage wider use of clean waste-to-energy technologies.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)