Tiruchi City Corp has sent approximately 350t of single-use plastic to Dalmia Cements over the past 45 days to be converted into refuse-derived fuel (RDF). This comes after the corporation renewed its agreement with the cement manufacturer earlier this year. The plastic waste, collected from resource recovery centres (RRCs) across the city, is used as fuel in Dalmia’s cement kilns, preventing the material from being dumped at the corporation's landfill site in Ariyamangalam.
Each day, a refuse truck transports plastic waste from RRCs located in Ambedkar Nagar, Manalvarithurai, Pillaiyar Nagar, Pasumai Poonga and Konakkarai, covering all five zones within the corporation's limits. The waste primarily consists of "non-recyclable plastics" and "multi-layered plastics" — common in snack packaging and carrier bags — which are not suitable for traditional recycling methods.
While recyclable plastics, such as PET bottles, are processed separately, non-recyclable plastics are shredded into strips, packed into lorries and transported to Dalmia Cements, where they are used to generate energy. In recent months, the collection of non-recyclable plastic has increased by around 10 per cent per day, with the corporation now collecting 6-8t of of this material, alongside 15t of recyclable plastics.
The corporation has been adopting this practice for several years, and further expansions are planned for the RRCs to accommodate the growing volume of waste. Mr T. Manivanan, city health officer, commented, “This is part of our ongoing efforts to manage non-recyclable plastics while contributing to alternative fuel use in the cement industry.”
