THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to tackle the growing menace of legacy waste, the city corporation has set up the first-ever Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant at Sanmathi Park near Chalai Market in the state capital. At a function held here on Friday, Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh officially inaugurated the plant, which uses pyrolysis technology to convert unsegregated waste into fuel.
The civic body has procured two RDF plants for the state capital on an experimental basis under Smart City Mission.
Both the plants cost around Rs 2.6 crore and are expected to manage the excess unsegregated waste generated in the capital.
The plant is capable of treating one tonne of legacy waste daily and operates using pyrolysis technology to convert waste into ‘bluff’ fuel that can be used for industrial purposes like in cement factories.
Approximately 40 kg of legacy waste can be treated at a time using the plant. It operates using pyrolysis technology, allowing for the deposition of 40 kilograms of legacy waste at a time and within just 15 minutes, this waste undergoes the pyrolysis process.
According to officials, the plant doesn’t produce any emissions and doesn’t contribute to air pollution. “The second plant will become operational at Chenthitta. Electrical works are already ongoing at the installation site and there was a delay because of a plan to give the RDF plant to disaster-hit Wayanad. But the requirement didn’t come up and hence we are going ahead with the installation,” an official said.
Since the launch of Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam, the campaign that aims at transforming Kerala into a garbage-free state, the Corporation had launched a door-to-door collection of non-biodegradable waste.
An official said that the civic body is promoting source-level waste management and RDF plants are being installed strictly for disposing of excess unsegregated waste.