The Hindu 01.02.2014
New machine to reduce smell at compost yard
A new machine to be installed at the solid waste compost
plant yard at Pachchanady is expected to considerably reduce the foul
smell emanating from the yard.
Unique Waste
Processing Company Ltd., which is operating and managing the plant for
the Mangalore City Corporation, would install a pre-garbage (solid
waste) sorting machine at the yard before the end of February, said an
MCC official.
Now, the garbage collected from the city is first dumped into heaps at the yard for making compost.
It
is transferred to a sorting machine after 35 to 45 days of decomposing
process for separating plastic materials and metals. In this decomposing
process, the waste in plastic bags is not decomposed causing foul
smell. Such “mouth-tied” plastic bags are a major hurdle in the
separation process, with many remaining as they are.
The
new machine, according to Manjunath R. Shetty, an Environment Engineer
at the corporation, separates plastic bags, other plastic materials,
metals etc. in the first stage itself as garbage collected daily is
transferred to the plant.
It has a tool which pierces
plastic bags and empties them thereby eliminating the mouth-tied bags. A
magnetic separator picks up metals.
The advantage of
the machine is that about 30 per cent of the solid waste (such as
plastic materials and metals) gets separated in the first stage itself.
The
inert materials such as metals could be directly transferred and dumped
in the nearby sanitary landfill site. Plastic materials could be picked
up by recyclers.
He said that the number of days for
decomposing would remain be the same. The decomposed garbage would be
again processed in the existing machine.
The official
said that once the new machine was installed, metals would be being
picked up by magnetic separators at two ends of processing.
It would help to produce quality compost.
In
addition, height of heaps and quantity of garbage at the plant yard
would come down. The new machine would cost about Rs. 40 lakh, he said.
A company official said that the new machine could process 40 tonnes of garbage an hour and 240 tonnes in eight hours.