Treatment plant makes Jashore first waste-free town

The waste treatment plant at Jhumjhumpur, Jashore has become a role model in recycling wastes, turning them into biogas and fertiliser.

Every day, around 40 tonnes of garbage is recycled and five tonnes of fertiliser produced at the plant along Jashore-Narail road.

Financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the plant was built in 2018 on a 39-acre plot at a cost of Tk 240 million. It went into operation in August that year.

“This is the first plant in the country where daily waste is recycled into biogas and fertiliser,” said Azmal Hossain, secretary of Jashore municipality.

There are 42 workers at the plant where garbage is carried on trucks from Jashore town, suburbs and cantonment area.

The biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are sorted out while the waste is dried up after recycling.

“After netting, fertiliser is produced from one portion and biogas from another,” Azmal said, adding that the fertiliser is stored in warehouses and the recycled biogas is kept in cylinders.

He said the municipality had been seeking permission from the agriculture department to sell the fertiliser in market.

Jahirul Islam Chaklader Rentu, mayor of the municipality, said the plant has been established for making the town garbage free and keeping it clean.

“Jashore has been declared the first waste-free town in the country thanks to the successful operation of the plant,” he said.