Maire Tecnimont inaugurates bio-waste recycling pilot plant at NITK campus in Surathkal

Team Udayavani, Mar 25, 2021, 8:19 PM IST

Surathkal: Maire Tecnimont Group on Thursday inaugurated a bio-waste recycling pilot plant at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) campus in Surathkal.

”Maire Tecnimont Group, global leader in the transformation of natural resources with a strong commitment to industrialising green chemistry and circular economy, inaugurated a bio-waste recycling pilot plant at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) campus in Surathkal,” according to a statement.

According to the statement, the project has been funded by its Indian subsidiary, Tecnimont Private Ltd (TCMPL), as a fundamental part of the Group’s efforts in corporate social responsibility and further step in the green energy development.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the event through a video message.

During the event, Maire Tecnimont Group further announced that through its engineering excellence centre TCMPL, it has signed an interdisciplinary centre for research ‘Maire Tecnimont Centre for Research on Waste Recycling and Circular Economy’. This is to enforce its commitment to high-level research for the energy transition also leveraging on the Group’s distinctive competences and expertise by tutoring the trainees in their development and empowerment paths, it said.

Maire Tecnimont will also provide scholarship to 16 students in 2021-22 onwards for their research and pioneering work in the field of energy transition and green chemistry. The company already sponsored two scholarships during 2020-21 at NITK.

The biogas pilot plant is dedicated to promoting research and improving energy self-sufficiency within the campus. This biogas plant will enable NITK to generate energy by converting food and vegetable waste from the hostel blocks and canteens through anaerobic digestion. In March 2020, Maire Tecnimont announced its support for developing the biogas project at NITK.

The funds committed were exclusively utilised by NITK towards building this pilot project plant.

It is estimated that a 500 kg GPS Renewables’ (waste-to-energy technology company providing waste management solutions) biogas digester is expected to generate 35,400 units of electricity equivalent in a year. The project will save Rs 2.42 lakh annually if biogas replaces the commercial cylinder for cooking purposes. The high-quality digestate, completely natural and free from harmful synthetic chemicals, can be used as an organic fertiliser, as a supplement or even as a replacement of chemical fertilisers.

The GPS Renewables will also perform the plant maintenance for three years. Maire Tecnimont Chairman Fabrizio Di Amato commented, ”We at Maire Tecnimont strongly believe in giving back to society and empowering aspirations in education, which is one of the key pillars of our sustainability strategy.” India is the company’s second home, and ”we are improving our efforts through partnerships and agreements with public and private players”, he said.

”We are elated by the support of Maire Tecnimont towards promoting green energy within our campus.

”As it is said that actions speak louder than words, their gesture of installing bio-waste recycling energy pilot plant will not only inspire students…but more importantly will set an example for other corporates to lead the change,” NITK Director Karanam Umamaheshwar Rao said.

He said Maire Tecnimont Research Scholarship for Sustainable Development will give much-needed support to students. ”On this occasion, my special thanks to the NITK 1981 alumni batch for facilitating this project.” Maire Tecnimont is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in Italy. Its subsidiary NextChem operates in the field of green chemicals and technologies in support of the energy transition. The Maire Tecnimont Group operates in 45 countries, through 50 companies and about 9,000 people.