Local bodies spends lakhs ferrying plastic waste to cement plants

Local bodies can now get rid of their high calorific plastic waste by giving them off to cement factories. But this arrangement is bleeding local bodies around the city dry. To transport plastic waste to cement companies, five municipalities are spending more than Rs 30 lakhs each month. Over the last two years, 54 local bodies have been sending their ‘high calorific, non-recyclable’ wastes such as plastics and thermocol to cement factories in the State. Of these, 49 local bodies send it to Ultratech Cements in Ariyalur. The factory only pays transportation costs for waste from local bodies within a 100 km radius, say government officials. As a result, local bodies such as Tambaram, Pallavaram, Pammal, Sembakkam and Anakaputhur will have to fund the cost of transporting the waste out of their own pocket. These five municipalities transport a total of 100 tonnes of plastic waste to the cement plant as part of a 10-year agreement. But the arrangement is crippling their finances. “The arrangement is not sustainable,” says one of the municipal commissioners. “We have to find alternatives so that we can use the funds for other amenities.”