At long last the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here has found a way for safe disposal of hundreds of tonnes of non-hazardous zero-value waste that had got piled up within the sprawling establishment over the years.
Having laid a thrust on green initiatives by putting in place a scientific organic waste management system, the over 75-year-old workshop has now taken the next step of disposing non-hazardous zero value waste generated within its premises.
This premier railway workshop has entered into an agreement with UltraTech Cement Ltd in Ariyalur for co-processing of accumulated zero-value non-hazardous waste that got accumulated over the years while carrying out periodic overhauling of passenger coaches.
Nearly 700 tonnes of non-hazardous zero value waste in the form of cushion, mattress and other materials had been dumped within the vast workshop premises at the periphery for over a decade now.
Of this, the workshop has planned to dispose around 400 tonnes of accumulated zero-value waste over a period of three to six months time - thanks to the agreement entered upon with the cement major late last month.
The accumulated waste would be transported to the cement factory in goods carriers where it would be used in the cement kilns after shredding.
The workshop had already obtained the go-ahead from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in this regard, a senior workshop official told The Hindu .
The huge benefit for the railway workshop engaged in a myriad of activities including periodic overhauling of diesel locomotives and passenger coaches is the safe disposal of the accumulated zero waste for which there were no takers due to its zero-value, said the official adding that plans were afoot to develop the spot post disposal of waste into a green belt.
“It is a win-win situation for both organisations as the zero-waste would serve as an alternative fuel in the cement kiln”, said the official.
The Golden Rock workshop is a nodal establishment among railway workshops across the country engaged in a myriad of activities such as periodic overhauling of diesel locomotives, passenger coaches and manufacture of container wagons for the Container Corporation of India besides wagons for railway use.
The co-processing of accumulated waste would be another milestone for the workshop which is spreading green initiatives put in place by it to officials attached in other railway divisions, said the official.
The zero-waste which would be burnt at 1,400 degree centigrade in the cement kilns leaving behind no residue.
The co-processing of waste would eventually bring down the fossil fuel requirements of the cement factory by acting as an alternative fuel thereby reducing cost besides meeting the statutory requirements of using alternative fuel, said the railway official.
The railway workshop sells scrap including iron and non-ferrous metals besides plastic items that generated during overhauling of locomotives and passenger coaches.
