The Southern Naval Command (SNC) here will become self-sufficient in managing plastic waste from Saturday, with a full-fledged plant getting ready on its premises to recycle the refuse into reusable pellets.

This would mean that zero plastic waste went out of the Naval Base, which already has incinerators to treat non-biodegradable waste and vermicompost pits for biodegradable waste at Kataribagh. Kitchen waste goes to piggeries, said Cmde N.A.J. Joseph, Commanding Officer of INS Venduruthy.

Naval authorities began to search for way out, since there was no means to treat plastic waste, while the rest of the non-biodegradable waste went into incinerators. Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of SNC, took up the issue with District Collector S. Suhas, following which he and Cmde Joseph took up the project with Cochin Shipyard, which sanctioned ₹46 lakh to procure the machinery needed for recycling. The Navy spent funds for civil work, power and water, while the project was executed by the Kannur-based PSU, Steel Industries Limited-Kerala (SILK), with help from the district administration.

“Civic agencies could think of such ventures, based on the outcome of the project. The facility would recycle plastic waste from nearby Vathuruthy area too,” Cmde Joseph said. Elaborating on the processes involved, he spoke of how waste would be further segregated into soft and hard plastic refuse. Dust would be removed from soft plastic, following which it would be washed and cleaned and fed into the grinding machine. “The hard plastic waste is dumped into a grinding machine, then to a washing machine and treated in a drier machine. Further processing the waste in a pelletising machine will ensure more resale value for the recycled plastic.”

Manure from the vermicompost pit is sold at subsidised rate, mainly to Navy personnel. It was also offered to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). Efforts are under way to zero in on a means to handle thermocol waste.

In December, the SNC organised a “Plastic Se Raksha - Swachhta Hi Suraksha” plogging campaign. A “garbage water scooper” made indigenously by the Naval Ship Repair Yard was used to clear the main channel of floating plastic and other waste. Dust bins in six colours were installed next to the Navy Children School, Naval KG and the Children’s Park here to sensitise children to the proper segregation of waste.