Berhampur to have first waste-to-energy plant in state

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to generate renewable energy from solid wastes. Around 200 tonnes of solid wastes are generated in the town every day. “We have decided to set up a processing plant to utilize the municipal solid waste (MSW) on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode very soon”, said Bhim Manseth, commissioner, Berhampur Municipal Corporation. Generation of energy is one of the options for utilizing municipal solid waste. The other products which can be generated from solid waste include manure and industrial oil, he said. BMC has roped in International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as a consultant for the project. “We have requested the government to bear 90 per cent of the consultant's fees. The rest 10 per cent will be borne by the BMC. The BMC would sign MoU with the IFC for this purpose”, he said. The consultant would conduct the feasibility study and adopt the technology that suits the conditions of the town. Thereafter, it would float a tender inviting the firms for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the project. The cost of the project would be known after the preparation of the DPR, but the project cost would not be less than Rs 100-crore, he added.

Siba Shankar Das, mayor of BMC said it would become the first MSW processing plant in the state. The BMC was constructing the boundary wall in around 20 acres of land at Chandania hill on the outskirts of the town to establish the plant. Meanwhile, BMC had dispatched a truck load of used polythene to the ACC cement factory at Bargarh after the company entered into a tripartite agreement with the BMC and the state government to receive these waste materials for use in its cement plant. BMC in its recent meeting has decided to campaign against the circulation of polythene having thickness below 20 microns in the town from September 1.

Source: Business Standard