Waste to energy: BMC plans to process up to 2,000 tonnes of daily garbage

In a significant step towards sustainable waste management, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced that garbage collected from Bhubaneswar and nearby municipalities will soon be used to generate energy, on Thursday.

Also Read: BMC proposes biogas plant at Unit-I Market in Bhubaneswar for sustainable waste management

The announcement was made in the morning in Old Town locality during ‘Swachhata Hin Seva’ campaign organised by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The CM highlighted that the State government’s Housing & Urban Development (H&UD) department is actively working on this plan. Around 800 tonnes of solid waste are generated every day from the civic body jurisdiction alone.

To tackle this, BMC is planning to set up a waste-to-energy plant, a biogas composting plant, and a waste-to-briquette or charcoal plant.

The BMC has already floated tenders for a biogas composting unit, while the preliminary discussions for the briquette/charcoal plant are completed. Land for the site has already been identified in Palasuni, where the construction will take place.

Basic idea of the proposed project is to process waste from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Jatni, and other nearby municipalities at a single location.

The civic authorities estimate that around 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes of daily waste could generate up to 25 megawatts of energy, marking a transformative step in Odisha’s clean energy and sanitation mission.

“Our government is keen to set up a plant to effectively manage dry as well as wet wastes. This information has been provided by the H&UD Minister during today’s programme of the BMC. Accordingly, the ‘waste to energy’ and ‘waste to charcoal’ project will be launched very soon,” the CM expressed while addressing a huge gathering.

“Waste will be converted to charcoal, and in turn, the charcoal will be converted to energy. New and advanced technology will be used for this project,” the CM added.