Around 3,500 metric tonnes of garden waste have generated 300 megawatt (MW), almost a tenth of the city’s daily electricity needs, at a waste recycling plant in Ghatkopar in the past two years.

The city’s electricity demand is between 3,500MW and 3,100MW a day, according to a report by the union environment ministry and Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) converts garden waste such as grass, leaves and hedge trimmings into fuel pellets in its first-of-its-kind facility on a 4,000-sqft plot near Damodar Park, off LBS Road.

“Earlier, a large quantity of horticultural waste from the garden department was being sent to dumping grounds. Leaves and tree branches were a major cause of recurring fires. So the solid waste management (SWM) department has decided to process the waste and reuse it,” said Praful Jadhav, assistant engineer, SWM, N-ward, and incharge of the project. “We wanted to keep the project low key [for two years] to ensure its successful implementation.”