Your questions answered

ReGen is the name for the new energy recovery and recycling facilities that form the Cayman Islands Government’s Integrated Solid Waste Management System designed to deliver sustainable waste management and promote the international waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, dispose).

When complete, these new facilities will have the capacity to divert up to 95% of our waste from being landfilled and contribute 8.5 Megawatts of renewable energy to the grid.

ReGen includes a series of waste management facilities capable of processing many different materials, including recyclables, as well as a state-of-the-art energy recovery facility that will turn things that aren’t recycled into energy to power our homes and businesses.

When complete, ReGen’s integrated components will work together to reduce the amount of waste being landfilled:

• Energy recovery facility
• Bottom ash processing facility
• Construction and demolition waste facility
• End-of-life vehicle and scrap metal processing facility
• Residual waste landfill
• Household waste recycling centre
• Materials recovery facility
• Green waste facility
• Medical waste facility

The ReGen facilities will be located in George Town, immediately south of the existing landfill.

The facilities include a lined, residual waste landfill which will be located within the footprint of the existing George Town Landfill.

Put simply, we can’t keep dumping our trash in the ground. ReGen provides a modern and sustainable alternative to landfilling through a series of integrated facilities designed to work together to improve recycling performance, and turn materials that aren’t recycled into electricity to power our homes and businesses.

When the new waste management facilities are up and running, they will help create a cleaner and greener Cayman Islands, benefitting our whole community.

Over the course of 2021 through 2023, the first phase of remediation at the George Town Landfill was completed. Ongoing phases are in progress; remediation of the George Town Landfill includes capping and covering the mound of waste, planting grasses and other plants, managing the landfill gas generated within the waste, controlling storm water run-off, and environmental monitoring of air, surface and groundwater quality.

It is anticipated that the remediated and planted site may one day feature a public viewing space. The landfill may take a number of years to stabilise enough to develop end-use facilities. Monitoring programmes will determine its final use.

An area of the George Town Landfill will remain active while remediation is taking place. Remediation will continue in stages until the energy recovery facility (ERF) is operational.

A new, lined landfill will be constructed as part of the new facilities. Located within the footprint of the existing George Town Landfill, this residual waste landfill will accommodate stabilized fly ash from the ERF air pollution control system, materials that cannot be processed through the ERF and materials that can not be recycled.

Dart is providing the capital investment to construct the ReGen facilities.

At the end of the 25-year contract period, the ReGen facilities will be transferred to Government ownership.

The ReGen facilities construction costs will be financed by Dart with no cost to Government until ReGen is fully operational. Once the facilities are operational, Government will pay a unified cost per tonne of waste processed to cover the capital cost and operational cost over the 25-year life of the project. There are no plans to introduce disposal fees to the public, and no plans to introduce disposal fees for commercial operators at this time. An additional revenue stream for ReGen will be the sale to CUC of electricity generated through the energy recovery facility. Costs on the project continue to be negotiated between Cayman Islands Government and the Dart Consortium.

Options are being explored to cap and remediate the existing landfill sites in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and package and ship waste to Grand Cayman for treatment through the energy recovery and recycling facilities.

Remediation will deliver a number of environmental benefits to the community, including:

• Transforming the visual appearance of the current landfill.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 23,000 tonnes a year; equivalent to removing more than 5,000 cars from our roads every year.
• Eliminating the occurrence of landfill fires.
• Eliminating nuisances related to landfill operations including litter, odours, flies and other vectors for disease..
• Minimising groundwater and surface water contamination.

A detailed risk-based assessment and remediation plan has been developed to ensure the remediated George Town Landfill will be a safe neighbour to surrounding homes and businesses going forward.

Energy recovery facilities are often located in city centres, close to the communities they serve. Examples can be found in London, Paris, Cophenhagen and Mallorca. ReGen will be built to the same standards as these facilities that are permitted to operate within densely populated areas.

The energy recovery facility will be constructed and operated to the European Union Industrial Emissions Directive, which is considered the highest global standard.

Potable water in the Seven Mile and West Bay areas is supplied by Cayman Water Company, all other areas of Grand Cayman are served by Water Authority – Cayman. Both companies convert brackish groundwater into drinking water through reverse osmosis and have protocols in place to ensure safe potable water supply. Please contact your water service provider to learn more about their processes for monitoring drinking water quality.

The intent is for the remediated George Town Landfill to become a grassy hill that may eventually feature a public viewing area and other public amenity. The landfill may take a number of years to stabilise and monitoring programmes will determine its final use.

ReGen is expected to create up to 300 construction related jobs and up to 60 long-term operational, maintenance and management jobs ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the facilities.

The Department of Environmental Health will continue to manage waste and recycling collection, and operate the materials recovery, household recycling, green waste processing and medical waste facilities, retaining existing local jobs.

Sustainability is at the heart of ReGen. This multimillion-dollar public-private partnership between the Cayman Islands Government and the Dart-led consortium includes remediation of the George Town Landfill and the development of new facilities to improve recycling and turn materials that aren’t recycled into electricity to power our homes and businesses.

Remediation of the George Town Landfill will cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 23,000 tonnes a year. That’s like removing more than 5,000 cars from our roads every year.

There will also be economic benefits through short- and long-term job creation, and social benefits such as significantly minimising the risk of future landfill fires and a reducing our dependency on fossil fuels for generating electricity.

ReGen will also include education facilities and resources to support youth and community understanding of the role we can all play our part in managing our waste more sustainably.