Okhla waste plant finds no takers for the compost

NEW DELHI: SDMC Chief engineer Umesh Sachdeva during a discussion on ‘Managing Delhi’s Solid Waste’ under the Delhi Matters series said, “Despite earned Rs 25 lakh as carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2013, Okhla waste plant which produces close to 40 metric tonnes of compost per day has no takers for the compost it produces.

He also said, “The compost we produce hardly has any takers. Farmers feel that since the compost has been made from garbage, it will not add value to their fields. A change in mindset is required. The plant was set up in 2008 and has a capacity of 200 metric tonnes.”

According to experts around 50 per cent of the total waste generated in Delhi can be composted and turned in to fertiliser. Around 10000 metric tonnes of garbage is produced by Delhi per fay.

Out of 9,000 metric tons of compost generated per month by Pune Municipal Corporation only 2,000 tones is used and the rest remains in the depots and same thing happens in Goa as well.

According to Senior Vice President of IL&FS, Deepak Aggarwal, “Carbon content of soil has decreased considerably over the years. According to studies, only 29 per cent of chemical fertiliser is absorbed in the soil, resulting in massive wastage and loss. There is a need to move to compost in agriculture and horticulture but the move has been very slow. In Pune, for example, compost is finding no takers.”