Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) authorities have embarked in an ambitious strategy to increase the processing of kitchen waste or wet garbage through waste-to-biogas plant. With an aim to reduce the volume of organic waste going to the landfills, WR has installed a biogas plant that will convert wet waste generated from the base kitchen in Mumbai Central’s canteen to biogas that will be used to cater to long-distance trains from Mumbai Central. The produced biogas will be collected in the biogas storage balloon and supplied as per the requirements.
1/3 #WR has installed a solid waste management plant of 0.5 ton capacity at Mumbai Central . It Will convert organic waste into gas which will be used for cooking. #GreenTechnology #GreenEnergy #CleanIndiaGreenindia #SwachcaRail pic.twitter.com/hg5jMyCgPa
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) May 24, 2018
Talking to NDTV about the initiative taken in line with the principles of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, WR’s Chief Public Relation Officer Ravinder Bhakar said,
The plant has been installed in line with the Solid Waste Management norms provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Besides improving the way in which we handle waste, it will also aid the Mumbai in reducing its overall waste generation.
3/3 If Solid Waste Management Plant is operated at maximum capacity, gas generation shall be around 1 cylinder per day. Another major advantage of this plant shall be that the system of garbage handling will improve. #Cleanliness #GreenEnergy#SwachcaRailway pic.twitter.com/qvTdZbIKXl
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) May 24, 2018
The solid waste management plant has a capacity to process 500 kilos of waste. Considering the fact that the kitchen generates waste between 200-250 kilos per day, the plant will not run at its full capacity. However, if the plant is operated at its full capacity, it can provide enough gas to fill a liquefied petroleum gas cylinder each day.
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When asked if similar plants will be installed at other railways stations, Mr Bhakar said, “A total of fifty lakhs were invested in installing the biogas plant and it is unfortunate that we will not be running the plant on full capacity due to a shortage in organic waste. The biogas plant is not economically viable but it is helping railways and the country in a big way by tackling garbage crisis. Thus, we will consider opening similar plants in other stations.”
