Waste to Fuel
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In some cases, the funds allocated for waste management under the finance commission gets utilised in procuring, for example trucks to carry waste to the landfill, without realising that open dumping now is becoming a grave issue.
In spite of these pitfalls, some of the corporations have taken the lead. A small city like Amravati, the renowned religious city of Varanasi and industrial city like Kanpur have all gone ahead in installing proper MSW systems. “In Kanpur 1500 tonnes of municipal waste gets treated. But this model can be replicated in bigger cities as well as smaller places which produce, may be, just 15 tonnes of waste a day. With very large cities we can adapt a cluster approach by collecting waste from neighbouring small cities/towns and treating in a single processing centre,” says Mehra.
The waste generated in Jalandhar is clustered with over 25 smaller cities. If Jalandhar is processing 789 metric tonnes of waste, about 320 metric tonnes waste comes from the adjoining cities. This way, even the smaller corporations can be part of this commercially viable project. One major issue to be considered in cluster waste collection is the diameter within which the collection can be done; 30-40km is good enough, informs Mehra. A cluster will have a common processing place, a disposal site and a cluster transfer station to deposit the garbage collected from each household. In places like Mumbai, the major problem is the lack of sufficient land for a MSW recycling facility.
“In a recent forum, the European Union declared that by 2020 there would be no space for landfill. They have now started working towards proper waste management. What Europe plans to achieve in 2020, Kanpur has done it in 2010. In fact, even though there is a landfill provision made for the dumping the remains after recycling, this landfill is yet to receive its first gram of waste. We have achieved 100% commercial utilisation of the entire waste.”
A2Z has already started work at Ranchi besides Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Muradabad, Aligarh, Varanasi, Patna, Indore, Sambhal and Fatehpur. Work is on in 32 Corporations. When the company took up the MSW project in Ranchi, there were just seven days for the National Games to commence. Around 250 workers were deployed to get the city clean. In Kanpur, it has 2600 people engaged in the MSW project.
A2Z gives importance to training its workers who are often from the lower strata of society. “We employ only those who actually want to be in this profession and have respect for the profession. People have to realise that a person, who willingly climbs down into a gutter to clean, is doing as much a public duty as a soldier at the border. We have started a full fledged training institute for field staff right up to the supervisory level. We call the field staff “safai mitra”. At the field we teach the safai mitra to be in a uniform and personal protective gear – helmet, goggles, mask, gloves and gumboots. We motivate our boys by telling them that there is absolutely no stigma attached to this business. If Mahatma Gandhi can clean his own toilet then we are no bigger than him. So they are doing something which is socially relevant and an essential service to the society.”
A2Z is running programmes for ragpickers as well, as most of them are deprived of their rightful place in the process of waste management which is a serious business. In MSW, A2Z would be operating the entire chain of activities from collection to generation of electricity. “From the garbage we are able to produce an extremely good quality organic fertilizer. We also produce fuel RDA, a direct replacement of coal with an added benefit of having much lesser ash content. This could be looked at as an alternative fuel.” Mehra explains that there is no new technology involved in making this fuel. This is a successive segregation where all organic decomposing components are separated from waste, treated, shredded and made into small blocks. This product is free flowing dense fuel with very low ash content and has lesser emissions.
Converting waste to fuel is the only way garbage can get the value associated with it and the day garbage is identified with the money it will fetch, we will not find a gram of it anywhere. That’s what A2Z is trying to do. “We are converting garbage into something useful and the day our model gets popular, there will be many companies following suit.”
Nevertheless, there is a paucity of people who have been able to find an opportunity in the waste business. Even if a few are able to identify the business potential, sustainability has become an issue. This is a business not so much of new technology but of putting the existing technology into a better and judicious use as available today. It is all about execution which means working with a totally insecure workforce.
Mohana M
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Waste to Fuel
The Government of India 2008 report on clean cities had ranked Kanpur at 256 out of 400 cities. However, thanks to A2Z Infrastructure Ltd, which took up the Municipal Solid Waste Management contract in 2009, Kanpur’s position moved up to 10. Dr Rajneesh Mehra, Jt Director, A2Z Infrastructure Ltd is optimistic that this success story of the Kanpur Municipal Corporation can be replicated in other corporations across India.
Municipal corporations in general have realised the need for having a concerted Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) programme but are not able to implement it successfully. The major hurdle is the lack of awareness about the systems for handling waste and adequate funds for installing those.
In some cases, the funds allocated for waste management under the finance commission gets utilised in procuring, for example trucks to carry waste to the landfill, without realising that open dumping now is becoming a grave issue.
In spite of these pitfalls, some of the corporations have taken the lead. A small city like Amravati, the renowned religious city of Varanasi and industrial city like Kanpur have all gone ahead in installing proper MSW systems. “In Kanpur 1500 tonnes of municipal waste gets treated. But this model can be replicated in bigger cities as well as smaller places which produce, may be, just 15 tonnes of waste a day. With very large cities we can adapt a cluster approach by collecting waste from neighbouring small cities/towns and treating in a single processing centre,” says Mehra.
The waste generated in Jalandhar is clustered with over 25 smaller cities. If Jalandhar is processing 789 metric tonnes of waste, about 320 metric tonnes waste comes from the adjoining cities. This way, even the smaller corporations can be part of this commercially viable project. One major issue to be considered in cluster waste collection is the diameter within which the collection can be done; 30-40km is good enough, informs Mehra. A cluster will have a common processing place, a disposal site and a cluster transfer station to deposit the garbage collected from each household. In places like Mumbai, the major problem is the lack of sufficient land for a MSW recycling facility.
“In a recent forum, the European Union declared that by 2020 there would be no space for landfill. They have now started working towards proper waste management. What Europe plans to achieve in 2020, Kanpur has done it in 2010. In fact, even though there is a landfill provision made for the dumping the remains after recycling, this landfill is yet to receive its first gram of waste. We have achieved 100% commercial utilisation of the entire waste.”
A2Z has already started work at Ranchi besides Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Muradabad, Aligarh, Varanasi, Patna, Indore, Sambhal and Fatehpur. Work is on in 32 Corporations. When the company took up the MSW project in Ranchi, there were just seven days for the National Games to commence. Around 250 workers were deployed to get the city clean. In Kanpur, it has 2600 people engaged in the MSW project.
A2Z gives importance to training its workers who are often from the lower strata of society. “We employ only those who actually want to be in this profession and have respect for the profession. People have to realise that a person, who willingly climbs down into a gutter to clean, is doing as much a public duty as a soldier at the border. We have started a full fledged training institute for field staff right up to the supervisory level. We call the field staff “safai mitra”. At the field we teach the safai mitra to be in a uniform and personal protective gear – helmet, goggles, mask, gloves and gumboots. We motivate our boys by telling them that there is absolutely no stigma attached to this business. If Mahatma Gandhi can clean his own toilet then we are no bigger than him. So they are doing something which is socially relevant and an essential service to the society.”
A2Z is running programmes for ragpickers as well, as most of them are deprived of their rightful place in the process of waste management which is a serious business. In MSW, A2Z would be operating the entire chain of activities from collection to generation of electricity. “From the garbage we are able to produce an extremely good quality organic fertilizer. We also produce fuel RDA, a direct replacement of coal with an added benefit of having much lesser ash content. This could be looked at as an alternative fuel.” Mehra explains that there is no new technology involved in making this fuel. This is a successive segregation where all organic decomposing components are separated from waste, treated, shredded and made into small blocks. This product is free flowing dense fuel with very low ash content and has lesser emissions.
Converting waste to fuel is the only way garbage can get the value associated with it and the day garbage is identified with the money it will fetch, we will not find a gram of it anywhere. That’s what A2Z is trying to do. “We are converting garbage into something useful and the day our model gets popular, there will be many companies following suit.”
Nevertheless, there is a paucity of people who have been able to find an opportunity in the waste business. Even if a few are able to identify the business potential, sustainability has become an issue. This is a business not so much of new technology but of putting the existing technology into a better and judicious use as available today. It is all about execution which means working with a totally insecure workforce.
Mohana M
Kanpur MSW management – Approach & Methodology
Collection & transportation
The primary aspects of the collection and transportation system include 100% collection and transportation of generated waste; adoption of proven technologies for waste collection and transportation infrastructure; use of robust communication network using Information Technology for handling of complaints and Geographic Information System (GIS) along with GPS for tracking collection and transportation system. Organised system like GIS will help in comprehending large amount of spatial data and in decision making.
Primary Collection
To run waste management system efficiently, the following approach is adopted by A2Z
i.The city is divided into clear working zones which may be contiguous with the existing zonal setup of the ULB.
ii.Work starts prospectively and progressively so that all the zones get covered in 90 days of the COD
iii.Door-to-door waste collection starts during wee hours of morning 7:00 a.m. and continues till 1:00 p.m.
iv.For efficient collection of waste from slum areas and narrow lanes, the backbone of collection system is an 8-bin cycle rickshaw.
v.Safai Mitra with eight-bin rickshaw goes to a house and whistles. One of the eight bins in the rickshaw is used to empty the garbage received from the house.
Secondary Storage
Once the bins on the rickshaw are full, Safai Mitra unloads the same into nearby 1100 litre bin which is placed at a strategic location. The 1100 litre bin when full is emptied into the Refuse Compactor. The refuse compactors make trips during night to ensure that there is no inconvenience to general public and the city sees a clean road on day rise. The area around the bins is cleaned to ensure that no garbage is littered around. Old dhalaos (community waste storage depots) are cleaned. Roads are cleaned and ensured that there are no ugly heaps of garbage, anywhere.
Transportation
Each of the compactors are 18cum or even lesser capacity compactors,(depending upon city conditions and waste generated) which can carry up to 10 MT and depending upon the volume of garbage takes load from 40 to 50 bins. On wider roads, the backbone of the collection is a Tata Ace based tipper which can collect upto 1 MT garbage at a time. Once full, these tippers are directly emptied into the refuse compactors. Each and every lane of each ward and each bin location are mapped, marked and tabulated. Each of the vehicles is equipped with GPS system and every incidence of the compactor halting at every bin is monitored and recorded. The user charges are collected by A2Z and the onsite online data loggers are used to collect payment, track user response and issue receipts. The workshops are well equipped to maintain the fleet of waste transportation vehicles. A very cordial relationship is maintained with various stakeholders viz. ward Councillors and residents through weekly ward-wise stakeholder meetings.
Processing & Disposal
Processing of Waste
i. Computerized weighbridges (2 nos.)
ii. Pre-sorting facilities to mechanically separate compostable (biodegradable waste), combustibles, recyclables and inert waste
iii. Windrow platform
iv. Monsoon shed
v. 3-stage compost screening facility
vi. Curing shed vii. Destoner facility
vii. Compost blending, weighing and packaging unit
viii. RDF bailing unit
ix. Plastic recycling facility
In addition, a fully equipped and a very high technology integrated and inclusive laboratory is set-up on the premises of IRRF which is used to create bacterial and fungal cultures and subsequent culture concentrates for spraying on to the windrows for aerobic digestion, test the quality of compost and RDF.
The RDF thus produced will be used to co-fire waste to energy plant. The A2Z waste to energy power plant using right technology, right boilers and right turbines coming up at Kanpur will be first of its kind power generation from RDF. This plant will not emit any environmentally hazard gases, thus meets all CDM credentials.
Also the entire construction and demolition (C&D) waste is processed and moulded into eco-friendly bricks using state-of-the-art technology. These bricks are stronger and denser and have far better acceptability in the market. A2Z is successfully running 100 TPD plant in Kanpur and Uttar Pradesh for processing of C&D waste.
Disposal (Landfilling) of Rejects
In line with the self-sustainability principles, A2Z ensures almost 100% utilisation of entire waste, thereby putting the sanitary landfill to minimal use. However, the setting up of landfill is as per design components provided and also, prevailing norms, applicable standards, and best industry practices.
The entire facility is surrounded by the green belt as per the MSW Rules and CPHEEO guidelines. The plant is automated restricting direct human interface to the minimum possible. PA system and CCTV’s are installed to monitor personnel and shop floor activities. The waste handlers are provided with personal protective equipment (PPEs) like gloves, hard hat, masks, etc. The entire facility is sanitized. The processing and disposal facility is planned very well with directional signages and electric golf carts available for plant visits. At the facility at Kanpur, A2Z already has started a dedicated MSW training institute where it imparts training in best industrial, behavioural, operational and disciplinary practices to prospective drivers, supervisors, zonal in-charges, trommel operators, RDF balers shop floor operators.
Outreach Programme
A2Z Infrastructure Limited, in its endeavour to provide state-of-the-art MSW management system to the citizens has made an outreach programme as core of its activities for successful execution. The programme includes:
- Focused public awareness campaign to sensitize public for adopting waste minimization and good management practices
- Capacity building programme to strengthen the capacity of ULB officials.