NMMC to use biofuel briquettes in crematoria

Navi Mumbai
Tonnes of green waste collected on a daily basis by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) from the city gardens and tree trimmings, will be used to form briquettes. The Corporation envisions briquettes as an eco -friendly alternative to wooden logs presently used at the 12 conventional crematoriums.
Briquettes are essentially dried green waste churned into fine powder and then using extreme pressure is remodeled into cylindrical bricks.
As a pilot project, NMMC intends to use briquettes at the Ghansoli and Turbhe-based open crematorium.
Of the 750 metric tonne solid waste collected on a daily basis, almost 5 tonne comprises green waste which are transported to the dumping yard at Koparkhairane.
The need to conserve space at the landfill and the repeated instances of fire outbreak in the yard prompted the administration to search for an alternative.
“There was an urgent need to find an alternative way of reducing waste at the landfill site. The concept of turning green waste into biomass fuel was suggested to be the best alternative as it could be used for cremation purposes and has commercial salability,” said the additional municipal commissioner Vijaykumar Mhasal.
To get the project going, administration studied the year old model operational at the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC). Last month, the garden department undertook a study trip to a briquettes manufacturing plant at Kashimira. “Tender bids are to be invited to set up the manufacturing unit which is estimated to cost upto 50 lakhs with the capacity to produce around 4 tonnes of briquettes daily. The other requirement of having around 3000 sq meter area for drying the green waste and around 400 sq ft for installing the unit can be easily fulfilled at the landfill site, said Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) Dilip Nerkar
Administration terms the switch to briquettes to be not only eco friendly but also economical. “ For cremating a body around 3 to 4 quintal of wood costing about ₹1500 wood is required whereas with briquettes the same quantity can be availed at half the cost and it does not create air pollution either,”said an official.
Environmentalists have hailed the move and have sought its implementation at national level. “ This is a novel concept solving two problems in one shot- the smoke generated from burning of wood and sustainable way of waste disposal. The central government should consider implementing this concept in Northern parts as there is ample farm waste getting generated,” said Director of NGO Natconnect, B.N Kumar.