Beginning Wednesday, handing over mixed waste to pourakarmikas because you find segregation too complicated is going to cut no ice with them. They will be empowered to say no to collecting unsegregated waste. What’s more? Residents who refuse to toe the line will have to pay up.

In yet another attempt to tackle its waste woes at the beginning of the cycle, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has made it mandatory to segregate at source from February 1. Having managed to get about 35% of the city to segregate its waste, the palike has now set its sights on increasing this number to 60%.

A part of its plan to achieve its self-set target is to collect only wet waste every day. “Sanitary waste, too, will be collected, as waste such as diapers cannot be stored in houses for long,” said Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, BBMP. Dry waste collection will happen only twice a week.

Mr. Khan said that residents of individual homes, who refuse to segregate waste, will be penalised after the first week, starting with a Rs. 100 fine for the first offence. This amount will be increased with subsequent offences. “If anyone refuses to pay up, we will recover the amount at the time of collecting the property tax,” he added. This means that the onus is on the owners of housing units given out on rent to ensure that all waste in the building is segregated. Waste from individual houses is said to make up for over 60% of the total waste generated in the city.

The schedule for dry waste collection will differ for each ward. Apart from developing a software to aid the process, conditions will also be laid out in the garbage tenders to further streamline the system.

Apartment complexes will be covered in the second stage of implementation of the plan. The BBMP intends to have as many of them compost wet waste as possible as it aims at reducing the quantity of waste generated, which stands at close to 4,200 tonnes a day including waste from bulk generators.

What you should do

Segregate your waste into wet and dry.

Wet waste (vegetables, fruits, fruit peel, tea powder, coffee powder, flowers, matchsticks, hair, food, cereals an other compostable waste) will be collected every day.

Sanitary and domestic hazardous waste (diapers, syringes, blade, earbuds, bandages, napkins, expired medicines, animal bones, etc.) will also be collected every day.

Dry waste (Plastic: bags, dolls, bottles, milk covers; Paper: cotton boxes, plates, newspapers, packing material; Metal: cans, bottle caps; Others: styrofoam, batteries, bulbs, tubelights, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, etc.) will be collected twice a week.