Solid waste collected from various localities under Jusco’s jurisdiction waits to be processed at the pilot plant (above) in Bistupur. Pictures by Bhola Prasad

A pilot project initiated by Jusco to treat solid waste generated in its command areas in Jamshedpur has been running successfully for the last two months.

With Jusco planning to expand the scope of its waste processing plant at Bistupur and Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) floating a tender for a similar project, the steel city will soon be able to rid itself of its waste hazards.

The Jusco unit, the state’s first such plant, is producing compost from solid waste. It is restricted to Jusco command areas and has the capacity to process 50 tonne a day.

Senior officer of Jusco’s public health and horticultural services Bhaskar Rao said the solid waste was being transported through dumpers, after being collected in vats.

“We treat the solid waste with enriched micro-culture, which is an aerobic process that uses bacteria and fungi on the waste to prepare organic fertiliser as the end product,” he said. The fertiliser produced is used by Jusco’s horticultural department.

The plant is situated on an acre of land on one edge of Jubilee Park. It is divided into a conveyor section from where waste is transferred to the processing plant and then to the trammel, which segregates and screens the waste while an elevator is used to transfer the material to a hopper which feeds the waste materials.

Jamshedpur city generates 270 to 300 tonne of solid waste everyday.

According to senior Jusco official Arun Vidyut, the company was serious about solid waste management and would expand the current set-up into an integrated solid waste management plant.

“After the commissioning of the plant in early 2012, we hope to process the entire municipal solid waste generated from our command area and increase the capacity to 300 tonne per day,” he said

JNAC has already set the ball rolling for systematic solid waste disposal by floating a tender to zero in on a project management consultant within a month.

The JNAC solid waste disposal and processing unit will look after Jamshedpur Urban Agglomeration areas comprising multiple authorities — Jugsalai Municipality, the three notified area committees of Jamshedpur, Adityapur and Mango and eight village panchayats of Parsudih, Ghorabandha, Chhota Govindpur, Gadra, Haludbani, Sarjamda, Kitadih and Bagbera.

Areas under JNAC, where Jusco provides municipal and allied services, will also be integrated into the project.