The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is set to establish the city’s first dedicated textile waste processing unit. The initiative aims to tackle the 100 to 125 tonnes of textile waste generated daily, which cannot be processed with regular solid waste, officials said. 

The location of the unit will be finalised based on the permission received from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), however, the tender to set up the unit will be floated this month, officials said. 

Pune city daily generates around 1200 to 1300 tonnes of dry waste and 900 to 1000 tonnes of wet waste. The PMC has 12 biogas plants to process wet waste and 13 plants to process dry waste. Out of the 1200 to 1300 dry waste generated daily, around 100 to 125 waste is textile waste. This includes—mattresses, cushions, clothes, sofa cushions, glass fibres, furniture, leather bags and shoes amongst others. 

Sandip Kadam, head of the solid waste management (SWM) department of PMC, informed, “The processing unit will process the textile waste in an eco-friendly manner and prevent harm to nature. Most people don’t ever consider the impact of this waste on the environment,” he said. 

Kadam added that it is challenging to process textile waste with regular solid waste. “This textile waste cannot be processed with the regular dry waste, as its size cannot be compressed, and the waste gets stuck in the feeder conveyor. The tender to set up a dedicated textile waste processing unit will be floated this month,” he added.