Pallikaranai, Chinnasekkadu proposed to get 3 plastic baling centres to process 100 tonnes of waste/day

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has proposed to set up three new plastic baling centres - one in the northern region of the city and two in Pallikaranai - with a combined capacity of 100 metric tonnes per day. The move, announced in the Corporation budget for 2025–26, aims to reduce the volume of plastic waste sent to the city's two major landfills at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur.

Chinnasekkadu has been identified as the baling centre in the northern part of the city (to cover zones 1 through 8) to set a facility with five baling machines, which can handle 10 tonnes each. Estimated to cost Rs 5.5 crore, the project will entail a concrete platform for storage and a GI-sheet roof shed for the machinery.

For the southern part of the city, the focus is set on the old Pallikaranai dumpyard along the Tambaram-Velachery Main Road, covering 4,670 sq.m. The site will be divided into two projects - western and eastern side baling centres.

Estimated to cost Rs 6.8 crore, the western side centre, spanning 1,664 sq.m., will process 20 tonnes per day with facilities similar to the Chinnasekkadu site, along with fire safety provisions and road access facilities.

The eastern side facility, which sprawls across 3,006 sq.m., will handle a larger goal of 30 tonnes per day. This project carries a higher cost of Rs 7.7 crore and is set to include an administrative office, an electrical room, staff amenities such as dining and changing spaces, toilets, a security block with a watchtower, CCTV surveillance, and water and sewer facilities, in addition to the processing shed.

The city generates an estimated 6,150 metric tonnes of solid waste every day, of which 1,168 tonnes (19 per cent) is plastic. At present, only 160 tonnes are recovered and sold through resource recovery centres, while another 30 tonnes are baled and sent to cement factories.

The remaining 978 tonnes continue to end up in landfills, where they pose a major environmental hazard and have been linked to repeated fire outbreaks.

The council has said that this move comes amidst residents' voiced concerns over fire safety and nuisance, leading to the recommendation of establishing two larger hubs instead, one to serve the northern zones and another for the southern parts of the city.

Officials emphasise that once operational, the centres will not only reduce the volume of plastic going to landfills but also help prevent landfill fires and strengthen the city's waste-to-resource operations.