EBRD, EU and GCF upgrade solid waste services in Jordan

• EBRD and Green Climate Fund provide US$ 8 million sub-sovereign loan to Greater Amman Municipality
• Investment to support capping of landfill cell, landfill gas utilisation for power generation, and a leachate management system
• EU-funded guarantee provided under its European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a sub-sovereign loan of up to US$ 6 million (€5.1 million) to Jordan’s Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) to finance the capping of Cell 5 at Al Ghabawi Landfill, the connection of the cell to an existing landfill gas (LFG) utilisation system, and implementation of a leachate management system within the cell.

The facility is expected to be co-financed by a US$ 2 million concessional loan from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under the Green Cities Facility, a US$ 2 million investment grant from the EBRD and an additional US$ 2.5 million from the EBRD and/or international donors.

The investment will fund the capping of Cell 5, enabling the capture of methane emissions, as well as the connection of the cell to the existing LFG utilisation system for power generation and the implementation of a leachate management system. These upgrades will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve environmental safety, cutting CO2 emissions by approximately 150,000 tonnes per year.

Cell 5 was constructed at Al Ghabawi in 2018 and reached capacity in 2023 after receiving approximately 6.7 million tonnes of solid waste. The new financing and upgrade will help GAM reduce methane emissions, generate renewable energy from landfill gas and manage leachate safely, contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable urban environment.

The investment will be complemented by an EBRD- and GCF-funded technical cooperation package to support with project implementation and supervision, and the update of Amman’s Green City Action Plan (GCAP) to align with new sustainability priorities, including digitalisation, gender equality and human capital development.

The loan is accompanied by a concessional guarantee funded by the European Union (EU) through its European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) Municipal Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience Guarantee programme.

The financing will be provided under the Green Cities Framework and contribute to the implementation of Amman’s GCAP. It also builds on the EBRD’s longstanding partnership with GAM under the Green Cities programme, which has already delivered transformative projects such as the Amman Electric Bus initiative and solid waste crisis response measures.

EFSD+ was established in June 2021 and offers EU partner countries assistance with key investments through grants or financial guarantees. It enables the EU to mobilise additional financial resources for sustainable development from the public and private sectors. EFSD+ has total global guarantee capacity of €39.8 billion for 2021-27, of which €22.5 billion will be used in the EU’s enlargement and neighbourhood regions.

The EBRD’s relationship with GAM extends back to 2015. To date, the Bank has financed a total of 11 projects in GAM, mobilising approximately €112 million in EBRD financing accompanied by €67 million in grants and concessional financing.

Since the start of its operations in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has provided more than €2.2 billion across 82 projects.