Pune: Mukta Tilak, Pune mayor, on Tuesday inaugurated Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) first plastic-to-fuel project in the city at Ghole road.
Considering the increased burden of waste generation after merger of additional villages within PMC limits, the civic body in 2018 floated a tender for setting up a plant for generating fuels from plastic waste in the city through corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of a private company.
Tilak said, “Pur O Fuel Pvt Ltd company invested Rs 3.5 crore in the project, which is indigenous and will promote the ‘Make In India’ scheme.”
The mayor said that Pune is facing a tough task in garbage management as 1,700 to 1,800 metric tonnes of garbage is generated in the city every day. The Maharashtra government had banned the use of plastic items, including carry-bags and thermocol, in June 2018.
Before the ban, plastic accounted for almost 50 per cent of overall garbage. While plastic has been banned in the city, PMC is still receiving large amounts of plastic via garbage collection. According to PMC officials, the civic body receives 200 tonnes of plastic every day.
According to PMC, the plant can process four tonnes of plastic waste every day. The civic body aims to generate 1,700 litres of fuel from plastic collected in the city.
In their bid to get the best out of waste, PMC has decided to turn plastic waste into ‘refuse-derived fuel’ (RDF) which consists largely of combustible components, such as non-recyclable plastics, paper cardboard, labels and other corrugated materials. These fractions are then separated at various processing steps, in order to produce a homogeneous material which can be used as substitute for fossil fuels.
{{/usCountry}}In their bid to get the best out of waste, PMC has decided to turn plastic waste into ‘refuse-derived fuel’ (RDF) which consists largely of combustible components, such as non-recyclable plastics, paper cardboard, labels and other corrugated materials. These fractions are then separated at various processing steps, in order to produce a homogeneous material which can be used as substitute for fossil fuels.
{{/usCountry}}Dnyaneshwar Molak, chief, solid waste management department, PMC, said, “While the entire cost of operations was incurred by the company, PMC provided space for the establishment of the plant, concretising, water and electricity connection. At least 1,460 tonnes of plastic will be treated in this plant on a daily basis eventually.”
According to Molak, the project will be operational in the next 4-5 months.