The Hindu 05.02.2011
Corporation move to clear e-waste
Coimbatore Corporation will soon take up household hazardous and e-waste management.
Sources say the civic body, a stakeholder, has a
responsible role to play in the collection, segregation and safe
disposal of the household hazardous waste (HHW) and e-waste.
This is in keeping with the Tamil Nadu Government’s
e-waste Policy 2010, wherein it states that infrastructure has to be
created for collection, utilisation and disposal of the waste in an
environmentally safe and sound manner, collection centres have to be set
up under the public-private partnership mode and local bodies should
play a prominent role and much more.
The sources say HHW and e-waste collection programme
will also ensure that they do not get mixed with other non-biodegradable
solid wastes.
The Corporation will set up two HHW and e-waste
collection centres each in all the four zones. In all, there will be
eight centres, which will come up at the ward offices. Conservancy
workers will engage in door-to-door waste collection on a designated day
on a weekly basis.
The waste collected will be sent to authorised
collection centres or registered recyclers, which will be done in
association with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
On a trial basis, the civic body will start the project
in a ward, the sources say. Once the project is extended to other wards,
it will rope in private players.
The sources say the aim is not only to manage the waste
but also to create awareness among the public for, such waste have the
potential to damage the environment by contaminating the air, water and
also enter the food chain.
The HHWs are pesticides/insecticides, aerosol cans,
fluorescent lamps, light ballasts, objects with mercury, mothballs, rat
poison, shoe polish, floor care products, cosmetics, hair remover, nail
polish, furniture polish, anti-freeze products, etc.
