PCMC on a look out for a new place to process waste

By: Pune Pulse

December 20, 2023

Pune: The civic administration is in a fix after the state government cancelled the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) planned garbage depot in Punawale. Hence, the PCMC is searching for a new location to dispose off the growing amount of waste produced every day in the city as the current Moshi garbage depot is full.

Speaking to Pune Pulse, Sanjay Kulkarni, Joint City Engineer, PCMC Environment Department said, “The total space of the current garbage depot at Moshi is 81 acres. It has been utilized fully now. Hence, we are looking for a new space for the garbage depot as the proposed garbage depot at Punawale has been scrapped by the state government. We will find a new & appropriate place for garbage disposal soon.”

Kulkarni further said that the Moshi depot is unable to hold more trash. There, more than 1,200 tonnes of trash are disposed of each day. Therefore, the PCMC is attempting to turn the daily waste into compost or fuel. There are a minimum of five plants designed to process waste into useful materials. One of the five plants is a 1,000-tonne capacity material recovery facility for separating dry and wet waste. Another 500-tonne plant is there that converts wet waste into compost. A third plant produces fuel from plastic. Biomedical waste is handled by the fourth plant, where it is burned. Old waste is bio-mined at the fifth plant and supplied to cement manufacturers as fuel.

Kulkarni further said that the last ten years have seen Pimpri-Chinchwad grow rapidly, which has led to an increase in garbage generation. There is an annual 10% increase in waste. About 500 tonnes of garbage was produced in the city ten years ago. But in the present day, the amount of daily garbage generation exceeds 1,200 tonnes.

Shreyas Vange