Kelhousesi Rino (right) and Mhiesilhouto Savino at their mini plastic waste to oil conversion plant. (Morung Photo)
Dimapur Kuda ‘C’ adopts ‘pyrolysis’ to dispose plastic wastes
Ashikho Pfuzhe
Dimapur | November 17
Plastic, plastic everywhere but where to dump them or burn the litter without polluting the air?
A solution to the twin problems might be within sight in the local context if the experiments of two members of the Kuda ‘C’ Waste Management Committee turn out to be sustainable and cost-effective.
Since February this year, Kelhousesi Rino, a mining engineer and Mhiesilhouto Savino, who runs a steel fabrication unit, have been busy building and improvising their mini prototype plastic waste to oil conversion plant.
With the garbage dumping site of Kuda ‘C’ on the brink of overflowing, immediate measures had to be taken and the ‘C’ khel waste management committee was tasked to find a solution.
Kuda ‘C’ khel is one of the three khels under Kuda Village, one of the biggest urban villages in Nagaland.
“Our main concern was how to dispose or burn plastic wastes without polluting the air. So we had to segregate plastic wastes from other wastes like paper and cloth rags, which emit less pollution when burnt,” Rino told The Morung Express.
The duo decided to experiment with pyrolysis technique and after sharing their idea, the ‘C’ khel authority agreed to fund their pet project.
“With the fund from ‘C’ khel authority we were able to buy equipments and machinery parts to build our mini plastic pyrolysis plant,” Rino said.
Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of solid wastes at high temperatures to produce pyrolytic oil, which can later be converted into pyrolytic fuel very similar to diesel or gasoline.
Giving a demonstration of the working of the pyrolysis processes at the makeshift project site, the drilling engineer said “right now we are using firewood and bits of waste papers and cloths in our furnace to heat the reactor in which the plastic wastes are stuffed.”
As temperature increases, the plastic wastes (organic polymers) are converted into monomers that are transferred to the condensers, where these vapours are condensed into liquid oil.
“We are also collecting the oil which will come to future use. But as of now, our primary focus is how to dispose plastic wastes in an eco-friendly way,” Rino added.
His working mate Savino said they have hired three labourers to help segregate different types of plastic wastes from the mountain of garbage and also to clean these plastic wastes before feeding them in the reactor.
“Now we have constructed a shed at the dumping site and soon would be shifting our mini plant to the shed. A borewell pump has also been installed at the site to meet the plant’s water requirement,” said Savino.
The 100x90 ft dumping site of Kuda ‘C’ khel is an eyesore with garbage wastes piling as high as seven feet. For the present, ‘C’ khel has made temporary arrangement to dump its waste at Dimapur Municipal Council dumping ground on payment basis.
However, as Kuda Village does not fall under DMC jurisdiction, the need to come up with the village or respective khel’s own means of proper waste disposal had been a long-felt need.
Apart from some improvisation and tying of loose ends, both Rino and Savino are optimistic that that their pet project would soon be ready for commissioning.
“If our project works, then other villages or small towns can also adopt the pyrolysis technique to achieve a more eco-friendly way of disposing plastic wastes,” the duo added.
