While the NGO has been contracted for collecting the waste from various dumping sites and storing it at an EDMC site, the corporation will do a test run on its use as fuel for power generation.
Could we be seeing better handling of non-recyclable plastic waste? East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has joined hands with a city-based NGO to deal with the menace of multi-layered, non-recyclable plastic waste in East Delhi.
The NGO, Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA), is also impanelled with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Its role will be to connect with waste pickers, who will collect plastic wrappers and other similar waste from residential areas and local garbage dumps on a daily basis.
The waste thus collected would be handed over to the EDMC. The corporation will then, on an experimental basis, use the plastic as fuel to generate electricity.
The EDMC has already started the pilot project at its existing waste-to-energy plant near Ghazipur landfill site. “It’s a pilot project for the next three months, and is in its testing stages. At present, we are unable to say how effective it would be. This is a first-its-kind initiative, and we are experimenting whether plastic can be used as fuel for power generation. We got the proposal from this NGO, and agreed to it,” explained PK Khandelwal, chief engineer of EDMC.
“Plastic waste, such as wrappers of chips and biscuits, are designed in multiple layers and are not recyclable. They have no monetary value, and waste pickers ignore it. This plastic if burnt will release poisonous gas,” Khandelwal added.
He also confirmed that EDMC would not pay the NGO for collecting the plastic waste, but provide a place for its storage.
East Delhi generates about three tonne of plastic waste daily. IPCA told City Spidey that in past two weeks it has managed to collect nearly seven tonne of non-recyclable plastic.
Riya Rathor, project co-coordinator of IPCA, told City Spidey that initially the project was launched under the central government’s Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Plan, 2016. Under it, the government also introduced the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which means that private companies producing this plastic waste are also responsible for its collection.
According to IPCA, on the instruction of the ministry of environment, private companies have been forced to take steps for collection of plastic waste produced for their own products.
Rathor said many private companies are already on it. “My NGO has tied up with DS Group, Coca Cola, Bisleri and several others to launch the project in many cities. It is our first project, and we are starting from East Delhi. We would be paid by these companies.”
Speaking to City Spidey, Rajbir Singh, EDMC commissioner, said that in March 2016 the central government replaced the Plastic Waste Handling Rule of 2011 with the notified Plastic Waste Management (PWM) rule. “The idea is to ensure the overall collection of plastic waste, and it is the first time that responsibility of waste generators has also been introduced.”
