An average of 2,500 tonnes of wet waste is generated in Chennai every day. | Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN
The Greater Chennai Corporation is set to launch projects for 100% recycling of municipal solid waste in the city.
Once the projects are implemented, only a small amount of inert material will be sent to the Perungudi and Kodugaiyur landfills. At present, more than 5200 tonnes of solid waste is sent to Perunguda and Kodungaiyur.
The Corporation is studying the feasibility of setting up two larger capacity bioCNG power plants, each with a capacity of 500 tonnes to process segregated wet waste in the city. One each is likely to be built in North and South Chennai to reduce the amount of waste sent to Perunguda and Kodungaiyur. “A detailed report on the project will be prepared by January. The projects will start this fiscal year,” the official said.
The projects, including plastic waste for fuel at the plants, are expected to get approval from the TNPCB soon. Resource recovery centers have been set up to process dry waste and plastic is sent to cement plants in Ariyalur.
“The corporation has started sending wet waste to its second bio CNG plant at Madhavaram near Kodungaiyur dumping ground. Work on the 100-ton bioCNG plant at Chetpet, which has been operating for the past year, has been completed. The Chetpet plant is fed with plant waste as well as marriage hall waste and kitchen waste from various bulk waste generators in central Chennai. It processes about 100 tons of garbage every day and produces bioCNG. The factory is operating on a public-private partnership basis,” the official said.
Bio CNG is compressed into cylinders which are sold by the operator in various hotels. The corporation receives a license fee. Last week, Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the second bio-CNG plant with a capacity of 100 tonnes in Madhavaram zone near Kodungaiyur. Segregated wet kitchen waste from Tiruvottiyur, Manali and Madhavaram areas is mixed together with cow dung to create bioCNG at the plant.
“The bio CNG operator will tie up with public sector gas agencies like HPCL to market bio CNG for use as vehicle fuel. The corporation is also building three additional 100 tonne CNG plants at Koyambedu and Sholinganallur,” the official said.
All bio CNG power plants are a step towards producing green energy to reduce the carbon footprint. Setting up CNG bio-power plants is a priority given by the Government of India through the Solid Waste Management Rules issued in 2016.
On average, 2,500 tons of wet waste is generated in the city per day. Five plants will process 500 tons of waste. The newly proposed plants will process 1,000 tons. Officials said they have set up micro composting and roller composting centers in the city.