The high-level committee appointed by the Kerala High Court pointed out that the available area for the windrow composting plant at Brahmapuram was not adequate to treat the huge quantity of waste brought to the site, and that the existing building at the site was in a dilapidated state and might collapse any time.
The report was submitted to the High Court along with photos and videos of the Brahmapuram plant and the site. It said that in view of the exorbitant cost involved in renovating the existing plant, the Kochi Corporation had decided to construct a new windrow composting plant. The proposal is under the government’s consideration. In fact, 10 acres had been set apart for the project.
As for legacy waste processing, the report said that that legacy waste was being processed using biomining techniques. But the capacity of the machinery at the site for biomining is not adequate for completion of work within the stipulated timeframe. The segregation and sorting of legacy waste at the site were not in accordance with the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines. The infrastructure at the plant is not sufficient to treat non-biodegradable waste. No scientific management of waste was observed at the site.
Since no material-wise segregation has taken place at the plant, the refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is one of the main end-products of biomining, is of inferior quality. As result, it is not being accepted by cement factories. The RDF generated after biomining has not been transported from Brahmapuram. The quality of good earth discharge is also poor owing to lack of proper segregation.
