Solving the Waste Head: Chennai’s Perspective

On April 13 this year, a group of residents gathered in North Chennai to discuss the problems caused by the first waste to the energy factory. They are firm in plants. TK Shanmugham, president of the North Chennai Resident Welfare Association, said residents commented on social media after the company implemented the project after RE sustainability, claiming that the area would not be polluted. “A group of residents emphasized the expert’s point of view that the project pointed out the class divide between North Chennai and South Chennai,” he said.

A few months ago, Greater Chennai Company shelved the project to develop an eco-park on the 93-acre Palikaranai swamp in southern Chennai after protests by residents. Most of the residents in northern Chennai are workers. Over the past few months, the company has taken steps to achieve zero waste in garbage dumps, develop scientific landfills, and promote a project to establish a perfect circular economy in Chennai, which has been working to address problems caused by unscientific dumping of municipal solid waste.

Not surprisingly, the civic issue of this city highlights the challenges faced by other cities in Tamil Nadu, which is the most urbanized country with about 50% of its population living in urban areas. Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru announced this month at a conference on waste management in Chennai that it is a milestone that is expected to shape scientific waste management. Company Specialist J. Kumaragurubaran said the citizen group will establish the first waste-to-energy project in Kodungaiyur as part of the integrated waste treatment facility. The proposal includes generating 550 tons of bio-CNG (TPD) per day, 1,100 TPD for compost plants, 1,200 TPD for automatic material recovery facilities, 1,400 and 700 TPD for waste to energy plants, and sanitary waste landfill-545 TPD. Company officials said an integrated waste treatment facility will be established at designated locations to deal with solid waste collected from zones 1 to 8 and combustible waste collected from zones 9 to 15.

approve

The project will be implemented in a public-private partnership model as well as a design, construction, finance, operational and transfer basis. The contract period is 25 years. The estimated project cost is Rs 126.838 crore. The state government granted administrative approval in March. Among the two companies, m/s. Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd. is a special purpose tool for RE sustainability and a successful bidder.

A tripartite agreement will be signed between the contractor, Tamil Nadu Electric Power Board (TNEB) and Chennai Company. The electricity tariffs are each unit of Rs 6.28 for the entire concession period. If tariffs increase in the future, the contractor will pay the company an excess fee. If tariffs are reduced due to unforeseeable circumstances, the company will provide compensation to the contractor. In addition to the waste sent to the dispersed machining center, all remaining unclassified waste in all areas will be sent to this centralized machining facility. But it may be difficult for governments and companies to advance before the election as residents protest against the imminent plant waste to energy.

Undeniably, protest residents represent public health issues near the dump in Kodungaiyur, North Chennai and Perungudi, South Chennai. Protest is nothing new. The demand is the same: “Transfer garbage to suburbs and restore swamps to seek disaster resilience in flood-prone cities.” Residents around the Information Technology Corridor (Rajiv Gandhi Salai) near the Perudi Islands have been watching protests against Kodungaiyur’s first waste to energy plants. A. Francis, president of the Thorapakkam Resident Welfare Association Federation, said they would oppose any such projects in Perujidi.

Revise the specifications

The company will implement revised guidelines to manage construction and demolition to manage waste. The new regulations will come into effect on April 21 this year and aim to manage 1,000 tons of construction debris generated per day. Assistant Commissioner Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy said that with these rules, unauthorized dumping will drop significantly, timely, and traceable construction and demolition waste will increase within two months.

The new system introduces a three-level classification of waste generators. Micro generators that generate up to one ton of construction and demolition waste from small activities such as home repairs can store debris for free in any of the 15 disposal sites designated by the company. These locations include the location along Buckingham Canal Road, Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dump in Sathangadu, and the old cattle warehouse in Avadi. Micro generators can be used via the Namma Chennai mobile application or call Corporation Helpline 1913. The company provides collection services for this category at a price of Rs 2,500 per metric tonne. Bulk generators are people who generate more than 20 tons of waste per day or waste over 300 tons per month. These include demolition of demolition sites with a total of more than 600 square meters or construction sites with a total of more than 6,000 square meters. They must use their own transport to directly transport all the waste directly to designated recycling facilities and pay a standard handling fee of Rs 800 per ton via the company’s online portal. In all cases, waste must be brought to one of the two designated processing facilities: Kodungaiyur dump or Perungudi dump.

Actions against violators

Data released by the company showed that between January 1 and April 10, authorities took action against 284 violators and fined a total of Rs 142 million. In some cases, vehicles used for illegal dumping were seized. The revised guidelines also outline a structured penalty system. A flat fine of Rs 5,000 applies to unauthorized dumping in public spaces. Throubled penalties will be imposed when dumping waste in rainwater and bodies of water. In this case, the small generator will pay Rs 3,000 per metric tonne, while the bulk generator will be fined Rs 5,000. The company said any large construction project that does not comply with the prescribed waste management agreement will be subject to a fine of Rs 25,000.

The collection process follows a three-stage protocol: removal of debris from illegal dump sites; waste is taken to 15 designated locations in each area or “regional staging area”; and then transported to processing units in Kodungaiyur or Perungudi. From January 7 to April 14 this year, the company used 201 cars to remove 1,00,118 tons of illegal debris. Assistant Commissioner Mr Reddy said the three-step protocol was tracked through the mobile app. Residents can report violations through Namma Chennai application or 1913 hotline index.

The company processes 6,150 tons of solid waste every day, and construction and demolition debris account for 1,000 tons. The recycling facilities in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi have a processing capacity of 100 tons per hour. The facilities have received 5,20,032 tons of construction waste and recycled 4,85,264 tons since operations began in 2021, a statement said.

K. Sundar is a technical consultant to Westar, the company’s contracted recycling company. He said: “The multi-step recycling process starts with mechanical crushing to reduce the debris to 25 mm or less. The debris are then washed to remove non-construction materials such as wood, plastic and fabric. The hydrogenated cycloketone system is used to separate particles less than 75 microns and then process them to 85% storage, which is then restored to 85%.

He said recycling sand certified by the Indian Institute of Technology is 30% cheaper than natural sand sold on the market. “Sand is the highest material. So far, it has been used in lean concrete or plain cement concrete [cement structures that do not need metal reinforcement] For example, some of the foundations of certain projects at Chennai Airport, road paving projects near Anna Salai, and plastering work on small projects in Siruseri. “To curb the dust pollution of construction and demolition, the company requires proper blockade of all construction sites during construction and demolition waste, and dust sheets must be applied to the material.

The main issues with Perungudi Dump

Leachate discharge remains a major challenge for Perungudi dump, with untreated liquid waste from fresh and heritage waste flowing into Pallikaranai Marsh. Kodungaiyur dump has a permeability and sewage treatment plant established by biologic mining contractors. Commissioner Mr Kumaragurubaran said long-term scientific measures (such as on-site or on-site treatment) will be developed with the help of experts from Anna University in Anna University in Leachate Management. As for legacy waste, he said that while one of the concessions has established a leachate treatment unit and used the treated liquid as biofuel, the problem remains in the parts that other contractors have not yet fully bioharveted.

Senior company officials say solutions are being developed in a 90-acre regeneration area in South Chennai. These include dedicated leachate collection tanks and fenced plants. “A detailed project report is being prepared for Perungudi’s waste to the energy plant,” an official said.

During a visit to a Hindu visit to a waste factory for sustainable development in Hyderu, engineers claimed that pollution had fallen, thanks to a tried and tested model. “Chennai Waste-to-Energy Plant is a carefully planned facility designed to reduce the burden on landfills in the city while ensuring waste is treated in an environmentally friendly and compliant manner. Built on a reliable model and adapted to local needs, it aims to serve the city reliably for decades.

Masood Mallick, MD and Group CEO, said: “This transformative waste-to-energy project in Chennai marks India’s itinerary toward circular economy principles and sustainable urban life. Chennai expects Chennai to generate more than 10,000 tons of waste over the next three decades, with the pressure on land resources and saturund and saturung and to in to in to in to insensife and to insensife insensife insensife. Obtaining additional land economically, environmentally or socially is no longer feasible.

He added: “By converting eligible waste into clean energy, restoring organic and inert fractions and greatly reducing the amount remaining, it greatly reduces the burden on landfills. The focus is on maximizing resource recovery, rather than indivisible dumping or burning waste.”