Waste-to-charcoal plant to debut in Puja, KMC eyes citywide rollout

Kolkata: Tala Pratyay Club in North Kolkata has set up an eco-friendly solid waste treatment plant that converts local waste into charcoal. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will monitor its performance, and if it proves effective, similar units may be installed citywide. The charcoal produced can be supplied to CESC or other furnace industries as required.

“We are treating this plant of 5 tonne capacity set up by Tala Pratyay as a pilot project, which will relieve us from the transportation of waste to the landfill site. The waste that will be treated will be converted into charcoal and can be used in power plants, cement and other industries,” said Mayor Firhad Hakim.

“We are facing a tough challenge for the disposal of our Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). When someone travels by the highway he will come across cement bags, pieces of cloth, garbage worth lakhs of tonnes which contributes in the degradation of the environment and weakens the soil underneath.

If we find this project successful, we can install the same at strategic locations beside state highways so that RDF can be converted into charcoal.

We have an RDF plant at Dhapa that can also be converted into charcoal, “ said Mayor Firhad Hakim.

Subho Basu of Tala Pratyoy, who was present at KMC on Monday, said that the plant named Eco Genic will start functioning during the Durga Puja.

“The main utility of the plant is the disposal of waste right at the spot, which will prevent us from the hassle of transportation to the landfill site at Dhapa,” added Hakim.