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Solid Waste Management

Garbage tourism takes corporators to Salem

Thursday, 26 September 2013 11:41 administrator
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The Times of India                26.09.2013  

Garbage tourism takes corporators to Salem

BANGALORE: As five KSRTC Airavata buses revved up and tailgated from the BBMP headquarters at Hudson Circle, roars of joy went up from the occupants. It was 7am, Wednesday. The picnic had begun.

This was no school educational tour; the buses were full up with 140 corporators and 40 BBMP officials, off on a trip to Salem to study the scientific disposal of garbage in that district of Tamil Nadu.

Three buses ferried corporators, while one bus took BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana and his officials. One bus was meant for women corporators. Dressed for the occasion, they were busy clicking pictures of each other. It was an enthusiastic bunch, armed with tablets and smartphones, which set out to solve Bangalore's biggest civic issue. And they made no bones that it was a pleasure trip.

First stop: Krishnagiri. After idlis, dosas and hot coffee, the contingent moved on, reaching Salem by 12.30pm.

Bangalore in-charge minister R Ramalinga Reddy and mayor BS Satyanarayana were given a ceremonious welcome by Hanjer Biotech Energies, which has set up the garbage disposal plant.

As company MD Nadeem Furniturewala explained the working of the plant, only Reddy, Satyanarayana and Lakshminarayana and an interested few listened in. Some corporators neither understood nor bothered to do so, as he was speaking in English.

The contingent was divided into three sections for the industrial visit, but many didn't bother to look closely at the facility. Instead, they spent their time shooting pictures of the plant and themselves with their tablets and cameras, and chattered away.

Then, they gathered at a pandal for an explanation in Kannada. This time, the women corporators went missing; they had retired to the AC buses to escape the heat.

After lunch at a posh hotel in Salem, the corporators lapped up their ice-cream and threw the cups by the roadside, while a few others flung them into a drain.

Little wonder Bangalore looks like it does.

 

BBMP may go slow on garbage rule

Thursday, 26 September 2013 10:32 administrator
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The New Indian Express                 26.09.2013 

BBMP may go slow on garbage rule

The BBMP may go slow on implementing segregation of waste at source which was made mandatory. It is now planning a mixed-waste garbage processing plant for Bangalore.

Addressing a press conference after visiting the Hanjer Biotech Energies Pvt Ltd plant at Salem, Tamil Nadu, Mayor B S Sathyanarayana said the plant in Salem took mixed waste to generate compost as well as other byproducts like refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The same technology will be put to use in the plant that will be set up by the company in Bangalore in the next one-and-a-half years.  “We will bring it to the notice of the Karnataka High Court. The technology will help BBMP save money on setting up dry waste collection centres and other segregation units,” he said.

The Mayor was accompanied by District in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana as well as BBMP councillors and officials. 

But Lakshminarayana seemed keen on implementing the waste segregation rule. According to him, “Segregation at source will be a long-term solution to the garbage crisis.”

The unit at Salem converts waste into RDF (45 per cent), plastic ingots or granules (25-30 per cent), compost (6 per cent) and inerts (15 percent). The inerts are dumped in landfills.

The company sells compost to fertilizer dealers at Rs 120 per bag containing 50 kilo of compost, RDF to  power manufacturing companies, plastic granules to cement and plastic manufacturing companies.

BBMP has awarded a tender to this company to set up a unit to process 800 tonnes of waste in Rajajinagar. Company director Nadeem Furniturewala said they had already submitted plans and were awaiting an approval from the civic agency.

“BBMP has to build a compound wall around the land. It will take 12 months for us to start the processing work and another six months to run it on trial,” he said.

 

Mayor pins hopes on mixed waste processing plant

Thursday, 26 September 2013 05:02 administrator
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The Hindu             26.09.2013

Mayor pins hopes on mixed waste processing plant

A view of the Hanjer Biotech Energies Pvt. Ltd. plant in Salem.
A view of the Hanjer Biotech Energies Pvt. Ltd. plant in Salem.

Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana isn’t too worried about the hiccups in enforcing waste segregation at source in the city. After visiting the Hanjer Biotech Energies Pvt. Ltd. plant in Salem, which generates compost, plastic ingots and refuse derived fuel from mixed waste, the Mayor hopes to set up one such plant here as well.

He visited the plant on Wednesday with city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy, BBMP commissioner M. Lakshminarayan and several councillors.

“We will apprise the High Court of Karnataka about this technology that processes mixed waste. If the court okays it, the BBMP can go slow on setting up dry waste collection centres across the city,” Mr. Sathynarayana said.

‘Segregation a must’

However, Mr. Lakshminarayan maintained that segregation of waste at source was the only viable long-term solution to solving the city’s garbage problem. Segregation was mandatory as per the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules. “While processing technology that uses mixed waste is good, segregation of garbage at source is important,” he said.

New plant

Mr. Reddy and Mr. Sathyanarayana wanted to know when the company would establish the processing unit at Rajarajeshwarinagar here. Nadeem Furniturewala, managing director of the company, said they had already submitted plans for the plant to the BBMP and were waiting for approval.

“The BBMP has to build a compound wall around the land before handing it over to us, following which we can begin the construction activities. We will be able to commission the plant in 10 to 12 months,” he said.

Mr. Furniturewala said the plant in Bangalore, to be set up on a 10-acre plot, would have the capacity to process 800 tonnes of mixed waste. The company had applied for loan on the machinery to set up the plant. “We cannot take loan on the land as the land belongs to the BBMP.”

Mr. Reddy assured Mr. Sathyanarayana and Mr. Lakshminarayan of getting the requisite clearances. He said the city needed at least four such processing units for effective solid waste management.

 
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