CR plans 5 recycling plants to tackle daily station garbage

Railway officials said each facility would occupy around 8,000 sq ft. The initiative is aimed at improving waste management at stations and reducing dependence on civic bodies for disposal

Mumbai: With railway stations in Mumbai’s Central Railway division generating an estimated 20-30 tonnes of garbage every day, the railways plans to set up five material recovery facilities (MRFs) to segregate, process and recycle the waste. The facilities, proposed at Wadi Bunder, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Kalyan, Igatpuri and Panvel, will handle discarded plastic bottles, food wrappers, waste paper and other disposable items as the railways steps up efforts to implement solid waste management rules at its stations.

CR plans 5 recycling plants to tackle daily station garbage

Railway officials said each facility would occupy around 8,000 sq ft. The initiative is aimed at improving waste management at stations and reducing dependence on civic bodies for disposal.

The first facility has received approval for Wadi Bunder, where a material recovery facility with a minimum capacity of 20 tonnes per day is planned. A contractor has been appointed to arrange funds, procure and install machinery, and operate and maintain the facility for 10 years.

The facility will have a covered shed around 22 feet high, fencing, a gate and a concrete base. Central Railway will provide free water and three-phase electricity and arrange for waste from nearby stations to be transported to the site.

The contractor will ensure that wet and dry waste is handled according to solid waste management guidelines and obtain the required certification.

“Earlier, the civic bodies were doing this. However, now disposal of waste has been handed over to us. We used to collect the garbage and send it to the civic authorities. Now, we will create pits for collecting this waste, especially near large stations, and then supply it to the MRF,” a CR official said.

Officials clarified that the facilities would handle routine station garbage and not muck removed from culverts and drainage lines along railway tracks during pre-monsoon cleaning.

The project comes amid a wider Indian Railways drive to improve waste management. The Railway Board has directed zones to develop selected stations as model facilities under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026.

These stations are expected to have systems covering waste segregation, collection, processing, recycling and authorised disposal, backed by infrastructure, manpower, public awareness and monitoring mechanisms.

The Supreme Court Monitoring Committee is overseeing progress and has directed railway zones to identify stations of different sizes, including tourist and pilgrimage destinations, for model waste management systems. General managers have also been asked to monitor implementation and submit time-bound action plans to the Railway Board.