According to Frost & Sullivan, the overall waste-to-energy (WTE) potential for India is estimated to be nearly 1,200MW by 2013 driven largely by the increasing quantity of waste material and declining space for landfill sites. It has suggested that Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plants which involve more sorting than the mass-burn plants remove the harmful materials from the incoming waste prior to combustion. “With the calorific value of RDF pellets being around 4000 kcal/kg depending on the percentage of organic matter in the waste, it could be a viable solution for the ever increasing quantum of waste disposal issues. It can be used as a stand-alone or dedicated energy generation system supplying electricity to the power deficit city.”
The Corporation of Chennai is planning an (ISWM) facility to manage about 2,500 tonnes of garbage daily and convert it into RDF. Besides producing RDF pellets, it makes business sense to set up recycling parks within the facility to recycle and reuse plastic waste, tyres, construction and demolition waste.
India can lessen its dependence on virgin plastic and other raw materials by substituting with recycled products.
