Solid Waste Management

MMRDA to float tenders for e-waste processing plant soon

Monday, 02 August 2010 10:47 administrator

Indian Express 02.08.2010

MMRDA to float tenders for e-waste processing plant soon

Swapnil Rawal Tags : ewaste, electronic waste, garbage Posted: Mon Aug 02 2010, 03:32 hrs

Garbage

An uncleared garbage heap near Bandra railway station on Sunday. Dilip Kagda

Pune: Pvt player will choose a site from 5 shortlisted ones

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is all set to invite tenders for the electronic waste (e-waste) processing plant within the metropolitan region. The authority has shortlisted five sites for the processing unit at either Taloja or Vasai.

To be set up on a public-private partnership model, the plant will have comprehensive facilities to collect, transport and recover precious metals from e-waste and for safe treatment. The MMRDA is in the process of preparing the bid documents. “A transaction advisor will be appointed soon after which the tenders will be floated in around a month’s time,” said M R Shah, principal advisor, Solid Waste Management Cell, MMRDA.

The authority has shortlisted four plots in Taloja and one in Vasai. Through the bids, it may also allow private players to choose the plot for the processing unit. “There will be only one plot for the unit, but we will give options to the interested players to choose from the five locations,” added Shah. Shah, a former chief engineer with the BMC’s solid waste management department, said the project, barring the land component, is estimated to cost Rs 80 crore.

Currently, India produces 50,000 tonnes of e-waste annually which is expected to rise to 8 lakh tonnes by 2012.

The MMRDA is expecting 60 per cent e-waste from corporate sector and institutions and the rest from domestic sector. Currently, e-waste generated from household or IT parks are sold to junk dealers or auctioned. Shah added, “Once the regulation is brought in, people will gradually send it to the proper authority. Officials said civic bodies would also be roped in to collect waste from the domestic sector.

A study by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has highlighted an alarming projection of e-waste generation in the region — over 50,000 tonnes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) by 2015. The figure was 20,000 tonnes in 2007. The International Resources Group (IRG) System South Asia Pvt Ltd, which carried out the feasibility study, had found an e-waste processing plant “highly feasible” in the area.

Taloja to be regional waste landfill site

The MMRDA that was scouting for a plot for a common regional landfill site across the MMR has now zeroed in on a plot in Taloja. The site would be used to dump and scientifically treat waste generated from the seven municipal corporations and 13 municipal councils of the MMR as space available within the areas of these councils and corporations has almost saturated.

“We have finalised the plot at Taloja. It is a 107-hectare plot of the state government. The process of transferring the plot is already under way. Other sites could be added depending on the demand and response to the project,” said M R Shah, principal advisor of the Solid Waste Management Cell of MMRDA. Along with Taloja, MMRDA had shortlisted plots at Bhiwandi on Mumbai-Nashik Highway (52 hectares), Shilphata near Kalyan Road (269 hectares).

According to Shah, the administration also faces lack of expertise to deal with landfill sites, long-term planning and finance. The site would cater to waste produced form the MMR’s municipal corporations and councils for a span of at least 25 to 30 years.

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 10:50

Ramky may take up garbage collection

Monday, 02 August 2010 05:43 administrator

The Deccan Chronicle 02.08.2010

Ramky may take up garbage collection

Tags: garbage collection, GHMC, Ramky Enviro Engineers

Aug. 1: Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited may begin garbage collection, its transportation and disposal this week. Though Ramky has bagged the project for collection of garbage in the entire city, the civic body is planning to assign the task in only the East and West zones of Greater Hyderabad.

Depending on its performance, Ramky would be handed over garbage collection operations in other parts of the city in a phased manner.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials discussed the issue recently with leaders of GHMC Bhagyanagar Municipal Employees Union, which has been opposing the civic body’s deal with Ramky. The leaders alleged that GHMC gave the garbage project on a platter to Ramky, compromising the interests of the contract workers and regular employees working in sanitation, garbage and transportation sections of the GHMC.

Sources said, representatives from Ramky offered to hike the wages of workers and also sign an agreement with the union that the present strength of contract and regular emp-loyees would not be cut.

The Ramky representatives also offered a tri-partite agreement between GHMC, employees and workers unions and Ramky. However, the union leaders told the officials and Ramky representatives that they would discuss the details with workers and employees and get back to them on Saturday.

The union leaders said, “Till date, we have not changed our stand on allowing Ramky to take up solid waste management project at Jawaharnagar dumping yard and other dumping sites.

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 05:50

Brahmapuram waste plant turns profitable

Monday, 02 August 2010 04:44 administrator

The Hindun 02.08.2010

Brahmapuram waste plant turns profitable

Staff Reporter

Rs. 1 crore to be made from manure sales

FACT purchases 350 tonnes of manure at the rate of Rs.2 a kg

Repair works of the windrow not carried out as it is expensive

KOCHI: The solid waste treatment plant of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram may bring in additional revenue for the civic body soon.

The plant has started earning revenue through the sale of manure and it will soon be able to generate a considerable amount through sales, said Babu Ambat, executive director of the Centre for Environment and Development (CED).

The plant is expected to produce at least 5,000 tonnes of manure within the next two months from the accumulated garbage and the civic body would get around Rs.1 crore through the sale. The average monthly expenditure for running the plant would come to around Rs. 10 lakh. It has started posting a monthly profit of around Rs. 4 lakh, Mr. Ambat said.

The CED is in charge of the maintenance and management of the Brahmapuram plant, which had developed major technical snags. The agency was also assigned the charge of making the plant operational after the floor where the machinery was installed sank.

After the rectification works, the plant has become fully operational and it now works round the clock. The accumulated waste would be cleared within two months. The floor of the plant was stabilised and strengthened and it was raised by 3ft as part of the rectification process, he said.

The present system would work flawlessly at least for a few more years to come. However, the repair works of the windrow was not undertaken as it would be an expensive affair.

The rectification works were carried out by at the plant site at an expense of Rs. 27 lakh, he said.

The FACT has purchased 350 tonnes of organic manure at the rate of Rs. 2 a kg. Each day, the plant is producing around 20 tonnes of manure. The CED is also planning to give onsite training for the employees of the Kochi Corporation for running the plant, he said.

The Central government had decided that the public sector fertilizer companies need to produce and market certain quantity of organic manure along with the chemical fertilizers produced by them. With the government policy in place, the FACT has become a regular buyer of organic manure from the corporation. Earlier, private planters had purchased manure produced from the civic body.

Incidentally, the plant site had become a garbage dumping site as processing came to a grinding halt. Unprocessed waste had piled up in the plant site and at one stage the garbage heaps prevented the view of the plant from outside.

The technical snag of the machinery and the subsequent accumulation of garbage at the plant site had invited severe criticism as the Corporation had spent a considerable amount on it.

The experts who inspected the plant had reported that all basic engineering principles were violated while constructing the plant, which was set up using the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission funds.

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 04:45

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