The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is planning to introduce the use of non-recyclable plastic waste as an alternate fuel in high temperature cement kilns with an aim to make cities plastic-free.
Board Chairman K. Sajeevan told The Hindu that it plans to use plastic piled up at the municipal solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram here for this purpose. The move is part of the efforts initiated by the government to resolve garbage menace in Kochi and other parts of the State.
Stating that the cement kilns provide extremely high destruction removal efficiency for the plastic waste at a temperature of 1,400 degree Celsius, Mr. Sajeevan said if the project is successful, local bodies including the Kochi Corporation could establish links with cement factories to eliminate non-recyclable plastic waste. The chairman said that the board will submit a detailed report on the advantages and disadvantages of the technology being employed at the municipal solid waste treatment plant in Coimbatore.
The board will also probe the lapses reported at the now defunct solid waste processing plant of the Kochi Corporation at Brahmapuram. Mr. Sajeevan said the civic authorities had kept the board in the dark on the operation of the plant. The corporation should have sought the clearance of the board before implementing such projects, he said.
The regional office of the board in Ernakulam will prepare a status report on the condition of the plant and the environmental impact it had on the nearby Kadambrayar. Board officials said that investigations will be held on complaints that leakage from the waste had contaminated the groundwater source.
