The Greater Chennai Corporation is set to launch projects for 100% processing of municipal solid waste in the city.
Once the projects are implemented, only a small quantity of inert material will be sent to Perungudi and Kodugaiyur dump yards. At present, over 5,200 tonnes of solid waste is sent to Perungudi and Kodungaiyur.
The Corporation is examining the feasibility of setting up two higher capacity bio CNG plants each with 500 tonne capacity to process segregated wet waste in the city. One each is likely to be constructed in north Chennai and south Chennai to reduce the quantity of waste sent to Perungudi and Kodungaiyur. “The detailed project report will be completed by January. The projects will be launched within this financial year,” said an official.
Projects, including plastic waste to fuel plants, were expected to get TNPCB clearance shortly. For processing dry garbage, resource recovery centres had been set up and plastic is being sent to cement factories in Ariyalur.
“The Corporation has started sending wet waste to its second bio CNG plant at Madhavaram near Kodungaiyur dump yard. Work has been completed on the 100 tonne bio CNG plant at Chetpet, which has been functioning for the last one year. The Chetpet plant is fed with vegetable waste as well as waste generated from marriage halls and kitchen waste from various bulk waste generators in the central part of Chennai. It handles about 100 tonnes of garbage every day and is generating bio CNG. The plant is being run on a public private partnership basis,” said an official.
Bio CNG is being compressed into cylinders which are being sold by the operator at various hotels. The Corporation is being paid royalty. Last week, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the second bio CNG plant with 100 tonne capacity in Madhavaram zone near Kodungaiyur. Segregated wet kitchen waste from zones of Tiruvottiyur, Manali and Madhavaram is being mixed along with cow dung for generating bio CNG in the plant.
“The bio CNG operator will have a tie up with public sector gas agencies such as HPCL for marketing of the bio CNG for use as fuel in vehicles. The Corporation is also building three more 100 tonne CNG plants in Koyambedu and Sholinganallur,” said an official.
All the bio CNG plants are a step towards producing green energy in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Installation of bio CNG plants is a priority conveyed by the Government of India through the solid waste management rules which were issued in 2016.
On an average, 2,500 tonnes of wet waste is generated in the city per day. The five plants will process 500 tonnes of waste. The newly proposed plants will process 1,000 tonnes. Micro composting and windrow composting centres have been set up in the city, officials said.
