Taking a big stride towards scientific handling of and ensuring value addition to dry waste, the Udupi Zilla Panchayat is all set to commission a material recovery facility to process up to 10 tonnes of dry waste per day covering 41 gram panchayats. The facility is said to be the first in rural Karnataka.
Trial run at the facility set up at Padavu in Nitte village of Karkala taluk on one acre of land is already on where about three tonnes of dry waste is being processed every day. This, according to Udupi Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Y Naveen Bhat, will help reduce the burden of dry waste segregation on gram panchayats besides adding value to dry waste. Panchayats, at present, segregate dry waste at their solid and liquid waste resource management (SLRM) facilities deploying manual labour.
The Nitte facility gets dry waste from 27 gram panchayats in Karkala taluk, 10 in Kaup taluk, three in Udupi taluk and one in Hebri taluk covering 72,000 houses and 7,000 commercial establishments. While dry waste from the existing system is sold to scrap dealers, the processed waste at the facility directly reaches the end user thereby saving multiple incidences of transportation. Furthermore the processed waste commands a higher price against unprocessed waste.
Machinery
Established at an estimated cost of ₹2.5 crore, the facility is equipped with a conveyor belt, bailing machine, shredder machine, among others. Workers segregate dry waste into 15-20 categories as they move on the conveyor belt. One worker can separate up to 150 kg dry waste per shift as against 30 kg under the conventional system, said Zilla Panchayat Chief Planning Officer Srinivas Rao.
Mangaluru-based start-up Mangala Resource Management Pvt. Ltd. promoted by the Ramakrishna Mission has won the bid to manage the facility by deploying about 30 workers. While each gram panchayat has to pay a fixed sum to the facility based on the weight of dry waste, the facility also gets revenue from selling the processed waste thus enabling it to run the show. Despite paying the fixed sum, gram panchayats stand to gain as they save on worker salary at SLRMs.
Dr. Bhat said that gram panchayats store weekly collection of dry waste while the vehicle from the facility will collect and bring waste. The Nitte facility will be inaugurated by the second week of September, he added.
While there are chances of dry waste remaining uncollected under the existing system, the new system encourages collection of every bit as the processed waste commands a higher price. For example, while pet bottles get ₹18 a kg under the present system, bailed pet bottles get up to ₹32 a kg. Similarly, shredded plastic used for road construction gets up to ₹22 a kg.