More than three months after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) banned third-party agencies from collecting waste from bulk waste generators, organic waste from hotels, schools and housing societies in Matunga and Sion will now be used to power the biomethanation plant at Sion Hospital.
Sion Hospital was among five hospitals chosen in 2023 for a pilot project to generate fuel from processed organic waste and use it to run their kitchens. At present, two hospitals — GTB and Sion — have operational biomethanation plants as part of the civic body’s larger plan to decentralise organic waste processing at the ward level.
What is the pilot project?
The BMC aims to build an end-to-end system that ensures a steady supply of organic waste to its biomethanation plants. These plants perform best when fed with high-energy organic material such as lipids, carbohydrates and proteins. The new pilot lays out a detailed plan to keep this feedstock flowing.
Key features of the project
>> Around 1700 kg of segregated organic waste will be collected daily by a third party from Sion, Matunga and Dharavi (F South ward).
>> Waste must be segregated at source.
>> Organic waste will be transported to the biomethanation plant at Sion Hospital.
>> The third-party operator will conduct awareness drives in societies, hotels and schools to ensure segregation.
>> Bulk generators who fail to segregate will face fines from the BMC.
>> Dry waste will be returned to bulk generators, who will have to handle its disposal themselves.
>> A specialised electric vehicle will be used to collect segregated waste from bulk generators.
Bulk waste generator?
Any establishment producing more than 100 kg of waste a day is categorised as a bulk waste generator. In 2017, the BMC stopped collecting waste from these generators and outsourced the job to private agencies, which were tasked with collection, segregation and processing.
Housing societies were also urged to treat their own waste within their premises. However, earlier this year, the civic body cancelled permissions for these agencies after discovering that waste from bulk generators was being dumped illegally elsewhere in the city.
