BBMP moots idea of reprocessing meat waste

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is preparing to reprocess the growing mound of fish and poultry waste, offering relief to residents petrified by the pungent, hazardous waste.

So far, nearly 45 tonnes of fish and poultry waste from meat shops and restaurants had been ending up either in the landfill or stormwater drains, remaining a persisting problem for Bengaluru. The BBMP did not make any provisions for its disposal until now.

Now the civic body will call for bids from organisations with their own or leased rendering units to process the waste. It will be collected by small vehicles from shops/restaurants, sealed and transported to rendering units.

“The BBMP will fix the charges based on polluter’s pay principle and the individuals should directly pay the bidders for collecting the waste. The by-products of the rendering plant can be sold out to poultry farms or other agricultural platforms. The bidders can earn money this way also,” said a BBMP official, adding that the civic body will facilitate the process.

The civic body might consider a Chennai-based company that recently demonstrated it’s rendering plant to the BBMP officials. “We said we’ll provide 20 acres of land for free with power supply and allow them to collect money from the individuals directly based on the amount we fix. They’ve agreed to this arrangement,” an official added.

As a second option, the BBMP might give away land to interested organisations to set up rendering units. As the last option, it might set up a 25-metric tonne processing unit by itself, at Rs 8-9 crore.

The city needs two processing units of 25 metric tonne capacity to handle the animal waste it generates. With no specific system to handle such waste, BBMP says this would be a novel attempt. It will soon float tenders.