Recycle thermocol to unclog canals: Mayor Firhad Hakim

KOLKATA: If you walk along Tolly’s Nullah or peer down canals from culverts on EM Bypass, the one ugly sight that meets the eye is the mountains of thermocol or styrofoam plates floating in the water. The non-biodegradable material is environmentally toxic. Styrofoam easily breaks into small bits that then kill land and aquatic animals that consume them.

Mayor Firhad Hakim has asked the Indian Plastic Federation (IPF) to set up a pilot styrofoam recycling plant near the city to tackle the problem. Styrofoam waste is dumped in copious quantities in the canals and the municipal dump yard at Dhapa.


“What was considered a convenience due to its light weight is turning into a real problem now. So IPF, in association with the department of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), will set up a plant to recycle styrofoam,” the mayor said on Wednesday.

Apart from its use in disposable utensils, styrofoam is also used as a packaging material as it is a good buffer and offers protection from damage. Polystyrene beads are processed using chemicals that are steamed and expanded. It is lightweight because 95% of styrofoam is air. Thermocol and styrofoam are brand names — the former from BASF and the latter from Dow Chemicals.

Though styrofoam is recyclable, the cost of recycling is too high for non-producers to invest in the required machinery. Also, because styrofoam has no recyclable economic value, not much effort has gone into recovering the material after it is used.

Hakim also urged MSME entrepreneurs to adopt an e-waste recycling scheme. “We will supply the e-waste dumped at Dhapa,” Hakim said.