Islamabad : The innovative idea of ‘waste to energy’ under the landfill site project has been left on the disposal of the contractor as over two million people are generating around 500 to 600 tonne garbage per day in the federal capital.
Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) Director Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri said the winning contractor for setting up the landfill site would be given the option under the contract either to recycle, minimize or segregate the garbage.
He informed that the maximum garbage per day is being generated particularly in the rural areas of Tramri, Bhara Kahu, Khanna, Koral and Sohan.
He said ‘waste to energy’ proposal is under approval and after completing all codal formalities, it would be contractor’s responsibility either to use the garbage for energy or recycling and separation purposes, he said.
To a question, he said the refused-derived fuel (RDF) production was initiated as an alternate to fossil fuel and timber when the petroleum prices were sky high during the past government’s tenure.
He said two cement factories initiated to use RDF but later on, when petroleum prices came down it suspended the consumption of the biomass. Zimri said RDF cost Rs1 per kilogramme and perfect alternate of fossil fuel and timber.
The RDF''s experiment was conducted at Bari Imam Shrine where catering service providers were facilitated with special stoves built for RDF, he added.
They successfully cooked a cauldron of rice with one kilogram of RDF which was evident of green fuel efficient usage.
"We have allocated 400 stations for RDF production in the federal capital including Sector I-9, Tramri, Humak Kahuta Road and Bhara Kahu and they would be functional soon after the seal of approval from the quarter concerned", he said.
According to him, one kg RDF is sufficient fuel for one-day household consumption.
It will help reduce extraordinary expenses spent in the wake of natural gas if the proposed idea was implemented in letter and spirit.
The RDF generation is a comprehensive scientific process which involves segregation of waste through different processing steps ranging from screening, air classification, ballistic separation, separation of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, glass and stones. It largely comprises combustible components of such waste, as non-recyclable plastics (not including poly venyl chloride), paper cardboard, labels, and other corrugated materials which could be used as fuel in a cement kiln hence replacing conventional fossil fuels such as coal.
It merits mention here that Lahore had transformed its municipal waste into biomass RDF as the city generated around 6,000 tonne solid waste per day.
The RDF is a potential alternate for fossil fuel as it is an inexpensive and efficient combustion. Dera Ghazi Khan Cement buys 1,000 tonne of municipal waste from LWMC for making RDF on daily basis.