Chennai: Nearly a third of the wet waste will soon stop being sent to the dumpyard, as Greater Chennai Corporation plans three windrow composting centres in the city. The first one, a 1,000-tonne plant, will be set up in a 20-acre reclaimed space at Perungudi dumpyard on the biomined land. The funds for this will be finalised after a detailed project report, said officials. In addition, two plants with a capacity of 50MT each will be set up in Madhavaram and Manali zones at a cost of 15 crore. “In Perungudi, we tried setting up an eco-park, but it was opposed. A proposal to set up a bioCNG plant was also opposed by locals over fears of foul odour and converting the wetland into a waste-processing site. However, about 2,500 tonnes of waste is still dumped there, and we must deal with it,” said an official with the solid waste management department.This does not require a huge, industry-like set-up, but it can still process high amounts of waste. Biodegradable waste, such as animal manure and crop residues, is placed in long rows—windrows. A mechanical turner is used to expose the waste to air, and it disintegrates in an aerobic process. Specific types of waste are removed and either made into compost, shredded, or turned into agricultural fertilisers. A fertiliser crusher is used for the process, and it takes about two weeks to complete.At the moment, GCC processes just 250 tonnes out of the 3,000 tonnes of wet waste it generates. This is because there is no infrastructure, and large-scale bioCNG plants are yet to come up in Kodungaiyur dumpyard. Residents questioned how GCC will enforce segregation.“They can set up new infrastructure, but waste ends up mixed at the dumpyard. Who will segregate it there? Two incineration plants are coming up at Kodungaiyur and Vengadamangala, and officials will find it easy to burn everything rather than go for natural processing. Without promoting door-to-door and local-level composting, such projects may not be successful,” said R Ramesh, a civic activist from Santhome. He added that even private contractors collect only mixed waste.
