"It also will ensure that no more lands are allocated to landfills."
A M C Kulasekera, Deputy Director General of the BOI said the gains from the project will benefit not just the investor but society at large.
This will be through an improvement of the environment, a reduction of health hazards, increased generation of much needed power and the creation of new employment opportunities for local people, he said.
It will also reduce Sri Lanka’s dependence on fossil fuel. The Board of Investment said in a statement it has signed an agreement with the joint venture company for the project to be built on a 20-acre land at Kahatamedawelyaya, Muthurajawela, in the Gampaha District, north of Colombo.
The power plant will destroy up to 1,300 tonnes of solid waste a day to generate 55 Megawatts of power to the national power grid.
Siti Fatima Mohamed Shariff, chairman of Orizon Renewable Energy, said construction work on the project will start in October 2010.
"Sri Lanka can