The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to create a waste to energy (W2E) plant at the Deonar Landfill that will be able to recycle 600 Metric Tonne (MT) of waste per day to generate at least 17 million units of electricity annually.
Here’s all you need to know about Mumbai’s waste to electricity plant.
What is a W2E plant
A waste to electricity plant is a facility in which solid waste components are scientifically combusted in a bid to generate electricity from them. Usually, the waste materials are burnt in an incinerator through which electricity is produced and the generated power is used for various purposes.
Mumbai, on a daily basis, generated 6,385 MT of solid waste. Out of the total waste, around 5,500 MT to 5,700 MT is transported to the Kanjurmarg waste facility, where the waste is segregated and treated. The remaining 500 MT to 600 MT is sent to the open landfill in Deonar where they are kept untreated.
How will the waste to electricity plant help Mumbai
According to the BMC’s plan, after the W2E plant becomes operational the entire bulk of 600 MT solid waste from the landfill will be recycled for generating power. This process will also help civic officials to recover the 120 hectares of land in the Deonar landfill which at present is buried under piles of garbage.
Current status of the waste to electricity plant
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had appointed a consultant for the construction of the plant in 2022 and so far, 10 per cent of the total work has been completed. The civic authorities have pegged the cost of building the plant at Rs 504 crore and is eyeing a 2026 deadline for making this plant operational.
What does the administration say
BMC additional municipal commissioner Sudhakar Shinde said, “The basic objective is to put an optimum use of the bulk of solid waste that is generated regularly. The electricity that would be generated could be used for serious purposes like lighting up streets, hospitals and residential clusters. The dumping ground is more than 100 hectare in size and our target is also to free up this land parcel from the existing garbage mountains that are lying on it by treating them scientifically. In the long run, we want to use this land for some purpose that would benefit the citizens.”