The provincial government has launched a new solid waste recycling plant to bring pollution down to a minimum.

This was stated in a handout issued on Monday. According to the document, this will be the second recycling plant in the country once it is made operational.

Why Kohat?

“Kohat produces about 100 tonnes of waste per day,” read the statement. “If the waste produced by the cantonment area is added, it increases to 150 tonnes.” According to the handout, the waste production will reach 400 tonnes a day by 2045 due to the ever-increasing population of the district. “As of now, the city spends roughly Rs3,000 per tonne to dispose of the waste,” it added.

Helping hand

The plant will recycle up to 500 tonnes or more of waste per day. It will also produce urea and manufacture plastic products for daily use.

The plan

The project will be made operational in two years. It is being built about six kilometres away from the city in Muhammadzai union council of PK-38 Kohat-II.

The cost of the project is about Rs180 million. About Rs80 million have been allotted for the first phase of the project, which will be completed by June 2016.

Some 432,000 square feet of land has already been acquired for the project, according to the handout. In the second phase, machinery will be installed and that will cost about Rs100 million.