The Hindu 03.11.2010
GVMC, Swedish team focus on collaboration in SWM
| City plans to set up six compost-making units with organic waste: Vishnu |
Eric Ronnols of Swedish Waste Management Association making a presentation at the GVMC on Tuesday.
VISAKHAPATNAM: A visiting Swedish delegation and the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation focussed on possible co-operation in solid waste management. At a meeting with GVMC officials on Tuesday, Eric Ronnols of the Swedish Waste Management Association and a member of the delegation gave a detailed presentation on the strides made in solid waste management by Sweden. The dumping of organic waste into landfill was banned in integrated SWM.
About 2 million tons, 48 per cent of Sweden's household waste, was converted into energy, Mr. Ronnols said.
The focus was also on creating biogas from the landfill which was equivalent to CNG and was being used as fuel for city buses.
One of the means used to reduce truck movement was stationary vacuum station in which the garbage was collected by suction.
Room-heating was generated from incineration of waste. However, it took 30 to 40 years of work to create awareness on SWM.
“Our effort is to contribute to growth and development and look for business opportunities between Sweden and India by taking up Indo-Swedish biogas projects and transfer of technology,” Mr. Ronnols said.
Three projects -- Bhairote Optimisation study, Ghazipur biogas project and Pune Sustainable Management and Biogas Project -- are under way.
The delegation, comprising eight members, is on a two-day visit to the city.
Technology transfer
Municipal Commissioner V.N. Vishnu said efficient integrated solid waste management involving residents' associations, NGOs, women self-help groups was the only way of disposing waste. The city was planning to set up six compost-making units with organic waste.
He recalled that the earlier projects of making pellets to produce energy did not meet with success because they were unviable and unsustainable.
The Swedish collaboration could be in the form of technology transfer/adoption and financing could be in debt equity, SPV, build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-operate, own and transfer (BOOT) as the government gave leeway for urban local governments.
The corporation was also trying for a 500-acre landfill near Anandapuram that would cater to the needs of two to three districts creating enough garbage for energy generation, Mr. Vishnu said
Joint Collector Pola Bhaskar, who visited Sweden as GVMC Additional Commissioner (Projects), Mayor P. Janardhana Rao, Chief Engineer B. Jayarami Reddy, ADC (Projects) K. Ramesh and CII Vizag Zone Chairman Sriram Ravichander participated.
