
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With food waste management becoming a mounting issue in the capital owing to restriction on inter-state transportation of food waste to pig farms in Tamil Nadu, the city corporation has given nod to a proposal to set up an advanced composting plant having the capacity to treat 10 tonnes of food waste daily.
According to sources, the civic body has given approval to begin the trial run of the new composting technology by mid-February, in the wake of the ongoing crisis. The composting plant is part of the decentralised waste management plan of the civic body and uses advanced technology to expedite the composting process.
The state capital generates around 423 tonnes of solid waste daily, of which around 127 tonnes is non-biodegradable. Ever since the launch of household waste collection by Haritha Karma Sena members, the civic body has been able to implement source-level segregation of waste.
The civic body’s move to implement source-level waste management facilities in households is yet to gain acceptance among citizens owing to bad experiences in the past. The Haritha Karma Sena members are collecting approximately around 35 tonnes of food waste from households daily, but with the Tamil Nadu government imposing strict restrictions to ban the entry of waste from Kerala, the flow of food waste to pig farms in Tamil Nadu has halted.
The composting waste management facility uses pulverisation technology to shred food waste and the boiling unit of the facility will steam the shredded waste at 120 degree Celsius to remove the stench. “The technology will reduce the quantity of waste considerably and if we treat 1,000 kg of food waste after processing the quantity will be reduced to 300 kg,” said an official source.
The byproduct from the processing will be converted into compost by mixing inoculum. “The wastewater generated during the processing will be processed using a mobile sewage treatment plant. The plant requires only limited space and a 10-tonne capacity plant can cover around 10 corporation wards,” said an official.