Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) inaugurated a bioenergy-based effluent treatment plant (ETP) at Vittal Agro Industries in Kanhagad, Kerala on September 2, 2024. It is designed to treat wastewater from the desiccated coconut industry. It uses the sustainable technology developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology. The plant has a capacity to handle about 60,000 litres of effluent per day. It will recover approximately 500 cubic metres of biogas and generate about 50,000 litres of reusable water from the treated effluent.
Buoyant Filter Bioreactor, a high-rate anaerobic treatment technology was customised by the NIIST for the desiccated coconut industry. The Technology Mission Division of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; Coconut Development Board; and KSPCB have financially supported the model ETP. The plant will help reduce the pollution caused by effluents from the desiccated coconut industry.