One-acre landfill to come up in Attingal

Will hold all non-biodegradable waste produced in municipality

The Attingal municipality will develop a sanitary landfill facility for the disposal of non-biodegradable waste in around one acre of land near the existing treatment plants at Chudukad.

Vice Chairman of the municipality M. Pradeep told The Hindu that work on a boundary wall for the landfill had begun. The facility would be operational by the year-end. “With the setting up of the landfill, the civic body will have a full-fledged solid waste management system. In addition to the existing four treatment plants, the municipality also plans to set up a vessel composting unit,” Mr. Pradeep said.

In the sanitary landfill, which is a mandatory requirement as per the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, waste is deposited in thin layers in a well-protected pit and compressed using machinery. Several layers of waste are placed inside and then compacted on top of each other to form a refuse cell. The refuse cell will then be covered with thick soil.

K. Mohan Kumar, secretary of the Kasaragod Social Service Society (KSSS), which manages the waste treatment plants, said Attingal generated close to 15 tonnes of waste a day of which five to six tonnes were non-biodegradable. The landfill was planned in way to occupy the entire non-biodegradable waste, he added.

Gas as fuel

The bottom of the landfill would have a clay base over which would be placed polythene sheets so to minimise environmental impact through seepage. As the garbage decomposes, gas would be generated which would be tapped through pipes and used as fuel. The landfill would also be provided with a pipe for collection of leachate, gas monitoring system, and surface drainage system. A major part of the waste would decompose as days passed, Mr. Kumar said.

A portion of the secured landfill site would be kept for disposing hazardous waste, which would be far less in quantity, Mr. Pradeep said.

The municipality had submitted a detailed proposal for a vessel composting plant at a cost of Rs.40 lakh to meet future requirements. “On trial basis, KSSS had established a minor vessel composting unit with a capacity to handle 5 kg of waste,” said Mr. Kumar. He said in vessel composting, garbage was collected in an enclosed container with a mechanism to control temperature, moisture, and gas automatically. “Within 15 to 20 days, the waste will be converted into manure,” he said.