Delhi CM launches waste processing project, says 100 acres reclaimed from landfill sites

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday laid the foundation stone for waste processing facilities at Okhla, Ghazipur and Singhola landfill sites, saying the government reclaimed 100 acres of land from the city’s three landfill sites in the last one-and-a-half years.

The facilities are aimed at processing fresh waste and construction and demolition waste and preventing the accumulation of new garbage mountains in the city.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony at Okhla, Gupta said the government was working on two fronts – clearing legacy waste from existing landfill sites and ensuring that fresh waste generated every day was processed without piling up.

“Today, at Okhla, we have processed almost all the legacy waste that was there before January 2025,” she said.

Gupta said around 3,000-4,000 metric tonnes of waste reached the site daily and the new fresh waste processing unit would ensure it was processed regularly.

“Our government is fighting on both fronts, to finish the old mountains and to ensure that no new garbage mountain is created in the future,” she said.

She said the government was working towards reducing the existing garbage mountains to zero.

“People are seeing that the garbage mountains are continuously shrinking and soon a time will come when they will become zero,” Gupta said.

The fresh waste processing facilities will also produce biogas, green energy and manure, she said.

“Waste should not remain waste, Delhi should use it as wealth,” Gupta said, adding that new technologies were being introduced for waste segregation and processing.

She said waste and cattle dung would be used for producing biogas and manure as part of the city’s efforts to build a technology-driven waste management system.

On pollution, Gupta said the government was working on several fronts, including landfill waste, Yamuna cleaning, dust mitigation, plantation, road infrastructure and waste management.

“Environmental impact comes from everything. The garbage mountains, cleaning of the Yamuna and dust mitigation all have an impact,” she said.

The foundation stone ceremony also covered waste processing facilities at Ghazipur and Singhola and the Ghazipur biogas plant.