Material recovery facility transforming Jammu into clean, green city

Jammu: Jammu city is rapidly transforming into a "clean and green city", with noticeable improvements in cleanliness in streets, footpaths, flyovers and residential areas.

The city is making significant progress towards achieving zero waste and at the forefront of this positive change is the Material Recovery Facility (MRF), also known as the 'Swachhta Kendra' (cleanliness centre), established in 2021.

The first-ever MRF in Jammu and Kashmir on the outskirts of the city operates under the collaboration of the Regional and Urban Development Agency (RUDA) and the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).

It employs a sustainable approach to integrated plastic waste management and efficient recycling within the city.

"This MRF in Jammu is the first of its kind. We have established it in partnership with the Jammu Municipal Corporation. It has been operational for almost three years now, with a daily capacity to handle five tonnes of waste. Currently, we collect, segregate, and recycle approximately 150 to 200 tonnes of trash every month," Sajeev Arora, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RUDA, told PTI.

Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the MRF collects, separates, and processes dry waste before sending it to recycling centres. As a result, it significantly contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions and the effort is to make the city clean and green, he said.

"To date, we have collected 7,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste, which we have successfully segregated and recycled. From an environmental perspective, every kilogram of plastic waste collected indirectly prevents three kilograms of carbon emissions. Through our efforts, we have already reduced 20,000 to 22,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions in the atmosphere," Arora said.

The city corporation employs sanitation workers who collect segregated wet and dry waste from households and public areas. The waste is then either transported directly to the MRF or delivered to mini-sorting stations for further segregation and recycling, he said.

Arora said the waste collection system also has led to a positive economic impact.

"We engage waste collectors, whose livelihoods depend on trash collection. They sell the waste to the MRF, enabling us to purchase the trash from them. Currently, we have 450 rag pickers and waste pickers, known as 'safaie mitras,' who are connected to the project." Arora said they will be setting up a material recycling centre soon in the city.

"The RUDA is in the process of setting up its material recycling centre to convert plastic waste into products and orders for procurement of machines have been placed with the exception to install them within a period of a month and a half," he said.