The Greater Chennai Corporation has planned to launch a slew of schemes for 100 per cent processing of municipal solid waste in the city of Chennai.

A Corporation spokesperson said they were exploring the possibility of setting up 2 high capacity bio CNG plants each with 500 tonne capacity to process the segregated wet waste in the city.

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He said one of these plants are likely to be set up in the North Chennai area while the another in South Chennai which is expected to minimise the quantity of waste sent to the Perungudi and Kodungaiyur dump yards.

A detailed estimate would be completed by January 2023. If all goes well, the schemes could be launched in the current financial year itself, said the Corporation spokesman.

Presently, the Perungudi and Kodungaiyur dump yards receive over 5,200 tonnes of solid waste, he said adding that another project to convert plastic waste to fuel plants was expected to get the clearance of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board shortly.

According to the Corporation, the resource recovery centres had been set up and plastic was sent to the cement factories in Ariyalur in southern Tamil Nadu.

Wet waste was sent to the bio CNG plant at Madhavaram near Kodungaiyur dump yard, he said adding that the bio CNG plant at Chetpet, also in Chennai, has been operational for the last one year which received vegetable waste and waste from marriage halls besides kitchen waste from various bulk waste generators in central Chennai.

The Corporation spokesman said, “around 100 tonnes of such waste received every day is being used to generate bio CNG, the plant being operated on a public-private partnership basis. Bio CNG is being compressed into cylinders and sold to various hotels, for which the civic body gets royalty.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK. Stalin recently opened the second bio CNG plant with 100 tonne capacity in Madhavaram zone near Kodungaiyur. Segregated wet kitchen waste from zones of Tiruvottiyur, Manali and Madhavaram was mixed along with cow dung to generate bio CNG in this plant.

The bio CNG operator will have a tie up with public sector gas agencies like HPCL for marketing of the bio CNG, to be used as fuel in vehicles, informed the Corporation.

Meanwhile, the Corporation is also engaged in putting up 3 more 100 tonne CNG plants in Koyambedu and Sholinganallur (Chennai).

An official said, all these steps like the bio CNG plants would help produce green energy with a view to minimising the carbon footprint. The existing five plants will process 500 tonnes of waste, while the new plants could process another 1,000 tonnes daily.