The Hindu 10.11.2014
450 tonnes of mixed waste gets processed in this plant every day
Waste is segregated using machines; wet waste composted
Workers in hats and boots stand beside a big machine,
while a few stand in a corner sipping hot tea. Hard to believe that they
are working inside a shed where 450 tonnes of garbage from the city is
being segregated by a machine ahead of it being processing.
For
the past 20 days, each day 450 tonnes of garbage has been sent to the
waste processing plant at Chigaranahalli in Doddaballapur taluk. MSGP
Infratech Pvt. Ltd. established the plant on 15 acres of land.
With
deadline to stop sending garbage from the city to Mandur landfill round
the corner, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is banking on
this unit to take some load and set an example for other such units to
emulate. By November-end, this unit will be able to process around 500
tonnes of waste every day, officials said.
According
to project manager Pushkar, for the first time, composting is being done
in a closed shed. Waste is segregated using machines and wet waste is
then composted. The leachate is used to hasten the composting process.
“Waste is composted on a concrete floor, so there is no leachate
contamination. The waste that is not composted is first segregated
manually. Plastic, glass and metals are recycled, while the remaining
waste is converted into Retrieved Derived Fuel (RDF) that is sold to
factories,” he said.
Mohan Lal, BBMP’s Assistant Executive Engineer, told
The Hindu
that a scientific landfill to dispose of the inert material was being
set up. The unit has been established as per the Municipal Solid Waste
Rules, 2000 and norms of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.
There is no habitation in the three-km radius around the landfill.
BBMP
sources said the unit has been set up at Chigaranahalli in just three
months’ time. “Since the composting and all other activities happen
inside a shed, there is no stench. The unit can be scaled up, if
required, in future to process more waste,” sources added.