Civic body sets 2024 target for biomining & treatment of all legacy waste at Dhapa landfill

kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has set 2024 target for biomining and treatment of the entire legacy waste at Dhapa landfill site by gradual development of infrastructure for waste processing.

A solid waste management unit that can produce 160kg of compressed natural gas (CNG) — an environment-friendly alternative to petrol and diesel — from 5 tonne of organic market waste daily was inaugurated by Mayor Firhad Hakim on Monday at Dhapa. The bulk of biodegradable waste comprises food, vegetable and fruit waste. About 4 to 6 tripper trucks that are used for disposal of garbage by the KMC can be run through CNG produced in the plant.

"We will set up similar plants in due course and this will help us to save the cost of petrol and diesel that are used for our vehicles and most importantly will contribute in turning them environment friendly," Hakim said, adding that the total expenditure involved in setting up of the plant has been Rs 2.70 crore.

Debabrata Majumdar, Member Mayor-in-Council (Solid Waste Management), KMC said that KMC has set a target of setting up plants to handle 500 tonnes waste daily in the days to come. "The solid waste in Kolkata will remain but it will be completely converted into waste and the city will be a zero waste one in the days to come,"Majumdar said. The Kolkata municipal area alone produces about 4,500 tonnes of solid waste every day. The civic body presently treats about 504 tonnes of solid waste daily. With the opening of the new plant, another 5 tonnes will be treated. A waste plastic recycling plant is functioning at Dhapa from July last year that uses plastic from the dumpsite itself for making a variety of products. KMC has already successfully sealed a 12 acre portion of dumpsite at Dhapa and has transformed it into a green site. KMC has also issued work order for biomining of legacy waste at Garden Reach. The plant will come up on 19.77 acres with capacity of processing of 1.5 lakh metric tonne.