OMJASVIN M D By Express News Service CHENNAI: In a welcome step towards achieving ‘Zero Waste Chennai’ target, the Manali Zone of City Corporation is using ash residue from its dry waste incineration plant to make eco-friendly bricks for pavement construction and masonry works. City’s first ever dry-waste incineration plant, which started functioning in its full capacity last week, generates 2 per cent ash for every 10 tonnes of waste burnt. ‘’Not wasting even the ash, it is mixed with a concrete solution to make bricks. For every 10 tonne waste burnt, we make 60 bricks,’’ said a top Corporation official. Express visited the plant last week to find out how it works. The Corporation has purchased a mosaic machine to convert ash into bricks. First, the ash is collected from the plant and processed through this machine which adds a pinch of cement, sand and water into the ash solution. The wet substance is then put into containers of different shapes and sizes according to requirement. Then it is dried under the sun for a day. When removed from the container, a concrete brick is born and these bricks are then used to lay flooring and pavements. Currently, the flooring of the Manali incineration plant area is done using these bricks. Corporation has also purchased a colouring machine to paint the bricks in green, brown, pink and red among other colours. According to the Corporation, Manali is already a zero-waste zone, where 100 per cent segregation takes place and no waste goes to landfills. Officials said using ash into building concrete bricks will not just keep the zone zero waste but also reduce dependency on mud bricks. ‘’Currently, we are not selling these bricks but in the future their commercial aspect could be tapped,’’ said the official. A piece of mud brick costs around `5 while the concrete bricks could be sold for around `3. “As this is only a 10-metric tonne plant, the production is less. However, the second plant that is coming up would be of 50-metric tonne capacity and there is a high scope of producing more bricks,’’ added the official. This method is already followed by the Erode Corporation and it is expected to be emulated at another incineration plant expected to come up in Tondiarpet.

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