Waste processors' pay tied to compost output

BENGALURU: In 2015, the state government spent Rs 440 crore to set up seven centralised waste processing plants to keep the city from slipping into another garbage crisis. Ensuring that they run optimally, however, has been a challenge.

Plants at Kannahalli, Seegehalli, Chikkanagamangala, Subbarayanapalya, Lingadheeranahalli, Doddabidarakallu and Kudlu have a combined capacity to handle 2,050 tonnes a day. They tonnes a day. They are supposed to process the waste and produce compost or refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Huge piles of unprocessed waste, however, narrate a different story. To incentivise efficiency, the city civic corporation now plans to introduce a `processing fee' that is linked to the output of compost and RDF . So, companies taking up operation and maintenance of the plants will have to ensure efficiency (processing more waste) to earn more.

“We are doing away with the tipping fee that was paid to operators for every tonne of waste that a plant received. Now, we will pay Rs 500-800 for every tonne of compost and Rs 150200 for RDF, “ BBMP Joint Commissioner (solid waste management) Sarfaraz Khan said. This processing fee is an incentive for operators who will also get maintenance costs for their plants.

The move, according to solid waste management expert V Ramprasad, is laudable. “Say, a lorry is carrying eight tonnes of waste to a plant.Because there was a tipping fee of Rs 250-300 per tonne, the operator would collude with the lorry driver and the local engineer to show 10 tonnes were received,“ he explained. “I'm hopeful that output-based remuneration will lead to real processing of waste.“ At present, Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services (IL&FS) has signed up to maintain the Kannahalli, Seegehalli and Lingadheeranahalli plants. Operations at Subbarayanapalya and Chikka Nagamangala plants, which had stopped due to a fire mishap, will resume shortly , Khan said.

Also, the civic body has appointed retired Karnataka Rural Infrastr ucture Development Corporation chief engineer Venkatesh Murthy as the CEO to monitor the seven plants. “Each plant was delegated to zonal commissioners and it was leading to confusion. With Murthy , they are under one umbrella,“ Khan said.

Murthy , who was instrumental in the commissioning of these plants, has started doing his homework.“I'm now trying to find out why these plants are not functioning to capacity. Each plant has its own problem that needs to be set right.“