Even though the capital is readying itself for its third waste-to-energy plant in Narela-Bawana, environmentalists say these plants are not the way forward to dispose of garbage in the capital. Currently, Delhi has 3 waste-to-energy plants. While the Timarpur-Okhla plant handles waste from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Ghazipur plant is yet to take off. “There have been trial runs since November last year. However, it is yet to be fully functional,” said a civic body official.
The Narela-Bawana plant, which is likely to be operational from June, has a capacity to process around 1,300 metric tonnes of waste per day to produce 24 megawatts of electricity. According to civic body officials, over 80 per cent of the solid waste would be disposed of and converted into electricity and compost.
The only operational plant at Okhla has been in the news repeatedly due to protests from residents of Sukhdev Vihar who filed a PIL in Delhi High Court against the pollution caused by the plant in the residential area. In 2009, they had moved the National Green Tribunal. The NDMC sends around 250-270 MTD (metric tonnes per day) to the Okhla plant and the SDMC deposits over 1,200 MTD. “From a total waste deposition of over 1,600 MTD, the plant has the capacity to produce 16 MW of electricity,” said Dr Ramesh Kumar, chief medical officer at NDMC. However, what is currently missing from the process is waste segregation while garbage collection to improve the generation of electricity.
“The sanitation workers are being trained to segregate waste at source. We are frequently holding sensitisation programmes with the RWAs (resident welfare associations) so that they are aware of distinguishing between dry waste and wet waste. Most of the waste currently being received is mixed waste,” says Kumar.
“Indian waste is not suitable for energy production. Roughly, 40 per cent is inert waste, 40 per cent is wet waste and around 20 per cent is dry waste, including plastic. After burning waste, 25 per cent of the waste gets converted into ash. The government falls for this as the volume of waste reduction is the core motive.
This, on the contrary, produces more complex, invisible toxic substances. So energy generation should not be a driving concern behind setting up plants,” says Gopal Krishna, convenor of Toxic Watch Alliance.
Experts are unanimous that a waste-to-energy plant is not an eco-friendly solution to dispose system. This can only be one of the solutions put forward by city governments, they point out.
To read the full story, visit http://www.deccanherald.com/content/547982/turning-waste-energy-not-final.html