100 bio-digesters to be set up across Goa to improve waste management

Panaji: State govt has decided to set up 100 bio-digesters or composting facilities across the state for decentralised wet waste management at a total cost of Rs 50 crore.
A senior govt officer said the plan is to set up 100 bio-digesters and composting facilities to treat wet waste generated from major bulk waste generators in the state for decentralised waste management.
“This initiative aims to manage organic waste at the source, reducing the burden on the centralised integrated waste management facilities which are set up by Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC),” the officer said.
The officer said that strategically located at high-waste-generation sites, these facilities will target major bulk generators, which will lead to efficient processing and reduce the cost of waste transportation.
“The total estimated cost for setting up 100 bio-digesters/composting facilities across the state for decentralised waste management is Rs 50 crore,” the officer said.
State govt on Thursday granted approval to the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to set up a 150 tonnes per day (TPD) compressed bio-gas (CBG) plant in Goa. The GAIL had approached state govt to set up a plant at Verna, but govt decided to identify a new site.
State govt has also decided to set up 200 Material Recovery Facility (MRF) stations across Goa for decentralised waste management. With 191 panchayats and 14 municipal councils in the state, it proposes to build the MRF stations at prime locations. The estimated overall expenditure for this plan is Rs 30 crore.
The GWMC has designed a prototype for a MRF station, where the general public can directly deposit segregated waste. These MRF stations will be manned to ensure proper handling and processing. Further, setting up these stations will also minimise the problem of black spots (waste littering sites) in rural and urban areas.
A senior officer said that the waste collected from the highways by the GWMC contractor is stored in bags along the stretches. Subsequently, these bags are transported to designated transfer stations for temporary storage. This waste is later transported to various GWMC waste management facilities for further processing.
Goa currently generates a huge amount of non-recyclable waste, which is transported to cement plants in Karnataka for co-processing and the transportation cost is borne by the GWMC.