Israel's SWM wows Palike team

Returning from West Asia after attending an international conference on issues of urban sustainability, WATEC Israel 2011, the Palike team was all praise for the tiny jewish state (700-km long and 70-km wide) for its solid waste management.

Going a step ahead, Deputy Mayor S Harish, who was part of the trip, has proposed to introduce the new mechanism to address the SWM concerns in Bangalore.

The Palike has invited Arrow Ecology, a private company entrusted with the responsibility of disposing the solid waste by Israel, to provide a concrete solution to the SWM in its jurisdiction under a public-private partnership model.

The invitation has been extended to the company after having witnessed its efficient manner of waste disposal in Tel Aviv, said Harish.

The team said Arrow Ecology provides a ‘unique facility of hydro mechanical separation resulting in recovery of about 90 per cent of materials.’ The facility will then use the biodegradable waste to generate electricity, without emitting any odour.

The plant to process solid waste can be set up on 25 acres of land, he said. If the company decides to invest, land can be provided at five different locations in the City for the plants.

It is not clear if the BBMP can spare 125 acres land for five plants on the outskirts of the City. “We have about 300 acres of land at our disposal and can definitely spare the required land for setting up of the plants,” he said.

The Israel model of disposing solid waste has been contemplated even as the BBMP is planning to adopt the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) method of SWM. Can the City afford to experiment with two new models at the same time?

Harish said the Israel model is being considered for disposing only 300 tonnes of waste, while the rest can be disposed of by the other means. A meeting between the Palike and the company officials is scheduled to be held next week in the City.