Rawalpindi to get 10 composting plants

Official says Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal will also get five plants each

RAWALPINDI:

Rawalpindi Division Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha while presiding over a meeting regarding installation of composting plants Wednesday said the Integrated Resource Recovery Centres (IRRC) were the need of the hour.

“This model introduces effective methods of solid waste management according to which garbage is segregated in a modern way after door-to-door collection,” a press statement quoted the commissioner as saying.

“About 60% of the collected waste consists of organic waste which is converted into compost form after processing. 25% of the remaining waste is recyclable while only 15% is disposed of at a landfill site,” he explained.

Chattha said the model has been launched in Pakistan after achieving success in other Asian countries. He directed that by involving the local community and welfare organisations as well as philanthropists in this public welfare project, an immediate proposal should be prepared for setting up 10 plants in Rawalpindi and five each in Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal districts.

The commissioner directed that a meeting should be held again in the next fortnight to review the progress and identify the places where these plants can be installed. “Two waste treatment plants should be set up in Murree so that the cost and labour of transferring waste from Murree to Losar site can be avoided,” he said.

The meeting – held in the Commissioner’s Office, was attended by the PHA Director General Ahmed Hasan Ranjha, Rawalpindi Waste Management Company CEO Rana Sajid Safdar, Assistant Commissioner General Maleeha Iesar and other relevant officials.

The Rawalpindi commissioner further said, “the composting plant will help us save huge amounts of money spent on waste transfer and will also have a positive impact on the environment and control the spread of infectious diseases due to filth.”

On this occasion, the meeting participants informed that the plants were being successfully operated at five locations in Pakistan, including G-15, B-17, and Jinnah Garden Islamabad, Mardan, K-P and Sarkand Town in Sindh. Recently this plant has been installed in Tehsil Khazro of Attock by the Rawalpindi Division. Similarly, the feasibility report of this plant in Tehsil Gujar Khan has also been prepared.

To set up this plant on a scale of two tons, a space of about two canals is required. The primary focus of the model is organic waste, which typically comes from kitchens, restaurants, plant trimming, and wholesale vegetable or fruit markets. The compost produced from this is very important for nurseries and farmers.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2023.