NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is planning to set up eight material recovery facilities (MRFs) with a combined processing capacity of 255 tonnes per day at different locations across the city, officials said on Friday.
MRFs are used to segregate and recover recyclable material from collected waste, helping reduce the amount of junk sent to landfills. The proposed facilities are at Dwarka Sector 29, Zakhira, Hatsal, Chirag Delhi, Sangam Vihar, Bhalswa, Model Town and Ranikhera. Of these, the MRF at Dwarka Sector 29, with a capacity of 55 tonnes per day, and the one at Zakhira, with a capacity of 20 tonnes per day, are under the approval stage, officials said.
The remaining six facilities, with capacities ranging from 20 to 50 tonnes per day, are at the planning stage. Officials said that the civic body already has five operational MRFs with a combined capacity of 22 tonnes per day.
These are located at Geeta Colony, Patparganj Industrial Area, Dilshad Colony, Pushp Vihar and Raghubir Nagar.
“After these eight facilities are developed, the combined processing capacity in the city under the MCD will be around 275 tonnes per day, which will be more than ten times the current capacity,” an official said. According to officials, beyond infrastructure numbers, the proposed scaling up aims at a significant environmental and social transition for Delhi’s residents and informal waste pickers.
Officials said by decentralising waste recovery and building high-capacity sorting hubs in areas like Dwarka, Sangam Vihar and Chirag Delhi, the civic body aims to reduce local dumping spots, minimise open burning and integrate sustainable recycling practices directly into urban neighbourhoods.