The waste management park at Ottupattarai, Coonoor, has made another step towards successfully managing the town’s plastic waste.
The first batch of over 8,000 kg plastic waste was transported to Hyderabad, for breaking it up into oil, gas and carbon by the process of pyrolysis as a form of tertiary recycling.
Samantha Iyanna, managing trustee of Clean Coonoor, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working with the Coonoor Municipality in managing the town’s generated waste, told The Hindu , “Two months have rolled by ever since the garbage dump at Ottupattarai started to function as a waste management facility. The Coonoor Municipality and Clean Coonoor have managed to handle some 60 tonnes of trash at this centre. The current recovery rate of recyclables now stands at 45%, which is more than sufficient for a Materials Recovery Facility that deals with a mixed waste-stream. Measures are also being taken to increase the quantity of garbage handled, by improving collection of all sorts of trash.”
Since the waste management facility was started, disposal of some plastic items, broken glass and glass bottles posed a serious challenge, as there were no organisations or companies willing to accept the waste products.
However, with the help extended by a Hyderabad-based firm, which has agreed to take the plastics from the facility at its own cost, around 8,220 kg was sent as an initial consignment.
“This firm breaks such unusable plastics into oil, gas and carbon, by a process called pyrolysis, a form of tertiary recycling,” said P. J. Vasanthan, trustee of Clean Coonoor.
“For the disposal of broken glass and glass bottles, a collection hub in Coimbatore, which sends the same to recycling units in Puducherry, has been identified, and about three tonnes of this material has been sent for onward transportation,” he added.
Both the NGO and the Coonoor Municipality were in the process of identifying ways to dispose of materials usually considered non-recyclable, with talks going on with a Bengaluru-based organisation to take in old clothes and rags accumulated at the facility for recycling, municipal officials added.
