Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation has completed 10% of biomining at the 352-acre Kodungaiyur dump yard and is set to ramp up operations.
GCC commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said they are processing 2,100 tonnes of waste daily, and the civic body will increase capacity to 10,000 tonnes aday by March-end with additional biomining machines.
“So far, 6 lakh tonnes were biomined out of the total 66 lakh tonnes,” Kumaragurubaran said.
Of the reclaimed waste, around 30% is plastic, 25% cloth, 30% biodegradable waste, and the rest glass and wood.
The dump yard has been divided into six separate areas, and biomining is done by different contractors.
In all the areas, the contractor opened up the 50-year-old legacy landfill and allowed it to dry in sunlight.
Following this, bioenzymes is sprayed on the dumpsite to loosen up. The waste is pushed into the segregation conveyor, which separates plastic, bottles, soil, and cloth waste into separate compartments.
About 200 tonnes of soil has been reclaimed and used to fill up planters on pavements and in parks.
Tamil Nadu govt recently gave the go-ahead for the waste-to-energy incineration plant, allotting 3,450 crore in its budget.
The plant will come up in the reclaimed part of Kodungaiyur dump yard and generate 21 MW electricity by burning 2,100 tonnes of waste daily.
Residents, however, continue to protest against the plant and demand more bio-CNG plants instead of an incinerator.
“GCC can go for greener options such as bio-CNG plants, which do not cause toxic emissions compared to incinerators, which release carcinogens,” said K Ramesh, a 74-year-old resident of Kodungaiyur.
GCC has planned two bio-CNG plants in Madhavaram and two at Koyambedu.