The Hindu    30.07.2012

Bangalore firm to help do away with plastic waste

The Corporation, still in the dark about how to dispose
of the organic waste generated in the city with the Vilappilsala plant
remaining closed, has some hope on the plastic waste disposal front.

The
civic body has arrived at an understanding with the Bangalore-based
Green Transit Renewable Energies, which has come forward with an offer
to collect and process plastic waste from the city.

Final
round of discussions was held last week by the city Corporation and the
Suchitwa Mission authorities with the representatives of the company
regarding the setting up of a pyrolysis plant for processing plastic
waste.

The plant with a capacity to process 10 tonnes
of plastic waste per day is proposed to come up near Thonnakkal on the
land leased out by the Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust. As per the agreement
reached between the Corporation and the company, the Corporation will
provide segregated, cleaned and dried plastic to the company, which will
use it as a raw material for the pyrolysis plant.

“This
is entirely a private project coming up on a private land. The State
government and Corporation have only agreed upon providing plastic waste
to the company. As of now, there are no financial deals between the
company and the Corporation. The plastic waste will be provided free of
cost,” an official of Suchitwa Mission said.

Soon to take off

Mayor
K. Chandrika said the project was expected to take off within a couple
of months soon after the pyrolysis plant was constructed at Thonakkal.

“Once
this project is implemented, we will be able to collect plastic waste
from every household in the city. We can employ Kudumbasree Clean Well
unit workers for the work,” Ms. Chandrika said.

G.
Murali Krishnan of Green Transit Renewable Energies said the “100 per
cent eco-friendly plastic pyrolysis” plant would decompose the plastic
waste into furnace oil, carbon black and natural gas. “Furnace oil,
which can be used for boilers or refined further into liquid petroleum
products, will be the major by-product of this pyrolysis plant. Around
35 per cent of the residue will be carbon black and around 12 per cent
will be natural gas,” he said.

“While furnace oil and
carbon black can be sold out, we will be using the natural gas to run
the plant, making it a self-sufficient project in terms of energy. All
kinds of plastic waste and even rubber and used lubricants can be
processed in the plant,” Mr. Krishnan said.

He said
the construction of the plan would begin within a fortnight of signing
formal agreements. “We have similar plastic pyrolysis plants in
Maharashtra, Gujarat, New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. The plant coming up
in Thiruvananthapuram will be a Rs.2.64-crore project. The construction
of the plant is expected to be completed in 60 days,” he said.