Goa Government is planning to set a construction waste recycling plant with Irish Technology.

On 29 October, Goa government, with the help of SINTEF Norway, Science and Technology Minister Michael Lobo, will set up a Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste recycling facility based in Irish technology. The facility will likely be located in North Goa while waste to energy plant is being planned in South Goa.

In his speech to the reporters in Norway, Lobo said that both plants will be based on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Within one month of the decision of the site for the C&D waste plant, SINTEF would complete the comprehensive project report.

Lobo said that building a Goa C&D plant would help clear construction debris and reuse sand and stone aggregates. “Recycled aggregates and sand can be used for construction and about 15% of subsidy will be provided to those who purchase them,” he said.

In order to understand the working technology of a C&D processing facility, and Fortum at Oslo to understand the technology that converts waste into energy, a State government delegation visited Velde Industries at Stavengar.

Goa currently produces about 500 tonnes of C&D waste each day in low-lying lands and abandoned canyons, which is disposed unproductively along the national highways.

Lobo said the C&D facility can recycle and produce sand and aggregates that can also be used in construction and producing precast cement products such as pavers.

Sources have said that the sand of the C&D plant would be useful in light of an NGO’s petition filed in the High court to denounce environmental clearance for sand extraction in the Goa rivers and that since 2018, the state government did not issue permits for sand extractions. The recycled aggregates can meet a variety of construction needs, sources added, in the same way, with limited stone quarries operating in Goa.

The government expects to build a C&D waste recycling plant according to the Rules of 2010 notified by the Ministry of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change. In order to monitor and ensure compliance with all waste control rules including C&D rules, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has instructed chief secretaries of each State.

During the presentation, Senior scientist Christian Engelsen from SINTEF said that the method of recycling C&D fits with the reuse and recycling principles and the circular economy embraced by Norway and other Scandinavian countries. Also, the delegation visited a waste to energy facility.

Goa is currently gathering about 55 tonnes of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), of which 30 tonnes is taken per day from the Saligao waste management plant and 25 tons of panchayats from the Village are being baled at Verna and sent for co-incineration to cement plants.

Goa is currently gathering about 55 tonnes of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), of which 30 tonnes is taken per day from the Saligao waste management plant and 25 tons of panchayats from the Village are being baled at Verna and sent for co-incineration to cement plants.

Lobo said that the state currently relies on neighbouring states for RDF co-incineration and that Goa would get help in the treatment of RDF self-sufficiency. The waste to the energy station would generate electricity and help to remove RDF from legacy dumps, he said.