Bio-mining clears tonnes of legacy waste in Chennai

Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has processed and removed close to 1.80 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste from city dumping yards using bio-mining method.

According to civic body data, bio-mining has been completed in Pallikaranai old dumping yard as the civic body has removed 40,853 cubic metres of legacy waste and reclaimed the land. Meanwhile, of the total 86,122 cubic metres of accumulated legacy waste, 73,533 cubic metres has been processed in Athipattu dump yard. Similarly, 64,443 cubic metres was processed in Sathangadu dump yard, which had over 1.25 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste.

The GCC has commenced bio-mining in Perungudi landfill at a cost of Rs 350.65 crore. A total of 34.02 lakh cubic metres of waste that polluted Pallikaranai marsh land will be processed.

Meanwhile, the Chennai Corporation is preparing a detailed project report to reclaim Kodungaiyur landfill by removing 64 lakh cubic metres of legacy waste at Rs 777.22 crore. “Bio-mining works at Athipattu and Sathangadu will be completed by December, and in Perungudi, by 2024,” a civic official said.

By implementing bio-mining, the civic body has reclaimed 15 acres of land; 5.5 acres and 17.39 acres will be reclaimed in Athipattu and Sathangadu respectively.

During the bio-mining process, waste will be segregated into 3 categories – recyclable, non-recyclable, and bio-earth. While recyclable and non-recyclable waste will be reprocessed and used as fuel, bio-earth will be used on manure.

Presently, the city generates around 5,100 tonnes of garbage of which around 50 per cent is wet waste. However, only around 700 tonnes of wet waste is being processed in processing facilities.