Building Pune: PMC plans new processing plant to tackle city’s textile, furniture waste

Around 2,400 tonnes of waste—segregated wet and dry waste is collected separately—is generated every day under the jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). “Around 3 per cent of this is textile and furniture waste,” said Sandeep Kadam, in-charge of the solid waste management department.

While textile waste includes clothes, mattresses, pillows, bags, etc, furniture waste includes the waste generated after property renovations. “There is no facility to tackle this properly. It is either dumped by citizens in open spaces or water bodies, leading to blockage of drains, or dumped near processing plants,” Kadam added.

With the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) raising concerns over such waste piling up near processing plants, the PMC decided to set up a processing plant exclusively for textile and furniture waste, Kadam said.

The PMC has shortlisted Pune-based Green Pruthvi Solutions to set up the processing facility that can handle 75 tonnes of dry waste per day, said Kadam. “The agency will examine the waste and sort it out for reuse, recycling, or energy generation. The textile waste can be used to make items like doormats, and that which cannot be used can be processed to prepare Refuse Derived Fuel to be used in furnaces by factories,” he added.

The PMC has to commit to providing expenses for operations, repair and maintenance for 15 years, so it has been decided to add a budgetary provision for the processing plant every year, Kadam said.

That Pune city was ranked the eighth cleanest city in the country for 2024, a jump of one position from 2023, is also playing on the minds of the authorities. “Though the PMC improved its ranking by one position, the target is to be in the top three. One of the main reasons for low scoring is unprocessed legacy waste, and this will be tackled by setting new waste processing plants this year,” Prithviraj B P, Additional Municipal Commissioner, said.