In a bid to recycle damaged and unusable dry waste, the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration (CMA) is setting up waste treatment plants using pyrolysis process.
Such plants would be installed in Chengalpattu, Anakaputhur, a southern suburb of Chennai, and Coimbatore to convert waste into pyrolysis oil or bio-oil and charcoal. The dry waste, including thermocol and soiled plastic, is fed into a reactor wherein they are heated at high temperatures without oxygen. This would help in degeneration of the materials into oil, gas and charcoal.
Officials of the CMA said sanitary workers and self-help groups WERE allowed to sell the recyclable plastic waste.
Nearly ₹33 crore worth recyclable waste had been sold so far in 11 corporations and 124 municipalities since August last.
Non-recyclable waste
However, dealing with damaged and soiled dry waste remains a challenge. At present, nearly 1,068 tonnes a day of non-recyclable waste is collected in the State. Only a portion of such waste that could not be sold was sent to cement industries. The waste treatment plants would help in preventing such garbage reaching landfills, an official said.
Chengalpattu Municipality will get the first facility among the three locations by January. With a capacity to treat 2.5 tonnes of waste daily, the plant is being installed as a public-private partnership model.
The bio-oil produced at the plant could be provided at a cost of nearly ₹30 a litre to be used for furnace and boilers in industries. Charcoal could be sold for ₹5 a kg, said sources in Chengalpattu Municipality.
Similarly, the plant at Anakaputhur would be constructed with a capacity to handle 20 tonnes of dry waste daily. It would handle the waste generated in Pammal and Sembakkam as well. These plants would be energy self-sufficient.
“We have sought the support of the Airports Authority of India to fund ₹2 crore towards the project. It would be implemented in three months,” an official said. Coimbatore would get 10 such plants with a capacity to deal with 20 tonnes of waste daily.
