The absence of any specific plan for utilisation of garbage after compaction (crushing) has made the sustainability of Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) project of setting up 78 waste compacting stations questionable, states a recent study conducted by the Centre for Quality Management System of Jadavpur University.
The Corporation’s garbage disposal modernisation project named Clean City Drive started in 2014 and was aimed at making Kolkata a vat-free city by setting up 78 waste compacting stations. So far 43 compactor stations with 90 compactors have been set up. Majority of the compactors are in south Kolkata. The city generates more than 4,500 tons of solid waste per day.
“As the disposal of the compacted waste has not been organised as on date, the sustainability of the same (project to set up trash compactors) is in question,” states the report released here on Sunday. It also points out that KMC needs to plan for utilisation of the compacted waste effectively in Sanitary Landfill Site (where the waste could not mix with the ground) and Landfill Gas Extraction (extraction of methane from waste to generate electricity).
The principal investigator of the study Sadhan.K. Ghosh pointed out that the absence of any sanitary landfill site was a hindrance in proper utilisation of garbage after it had been compacted. He also said that compacted waste, occupying less space, leads to optimum utilisation of sanitary landfill sites as it was difficult to get land for them. Prof. Ghosh, a faculty member of Jadavpur University’s Mechanical Engineering Department, said the project was a “positive” step.
The question raised in the study was validated by Sasanka Sekhar Dev, secretary of Society for Direct Initiative for Social and Health Action. Mr. Dev pointed out that KMC had no process in place for segregation of waste at time of collection which makes its proper utilisation difficult. “If compaction of waste is done without proper segregation of dry and wet waste, then there is no scope of recycling it,” he told The Hindu . Mr. Deb said that of the 4,500 tons generated in the city per day about 3,500 tons was collected. “Only about half a ton is recycled,” he said.
