The Hindu             17.07.2013

Udupi to take up scheme to segregate waste at source in a month’s time

The Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) is set to take up a pilot project of waste segregation at source in 3,000 houses in a month’s time.

Under the pilot project, these houses would be given two buckets — one red-coloured, and the other green. Residents would be instructed to put bio-degradable or wet waste into the green bucket, while plastic, glass and paper material would have to be put in the red bucket.

SHGs help

These buckets would be collected daily by members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the biodegradable waste would be taken for processing and land-filling at the 22-acre solid waste management plant (SWMP) in Alevoor village.

Plastic waste

Plastic, glass and other material will be sold to scrap-dealers for recycling.

“People of these 3,000 houses would have to pay Rs. 30 per month to the SHGs for collection of the waste. The aim of the pilot project is to make the citizens aware of the importance of waste segregation,” said Subrahmanya M.K., environment engineer of the the City Municipal Council.

Udupi city generates 58 tonnes of garbage everyday. Of this, 7.12 tonnes is plastic waste, comprising carry bags and cups. There are 32,000 households in the city.

The Udupi CMC banned the use of all kinds of plastic, including carry bags and cups, on September 15, 2012. However, a few private companies approached court and got a stay order against the ban.

Consequently, plastic material have once again made a come-back.

“The CMC has appealed against the stay order,” said CMC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak.

Cloth and paper bags were being used by the people during the period when plastic was banned in the city.

According to Mr. Subrahmanya, during the six months of the ban period, the use of plastic material had come down by nearly 75 per cent.

Segregation of waste at source would save the CMC time and money. The CMC spends Rs. 1,320 (including wages, vehicle cost and transportation charges) to process one tonne of garbage.

Now, residents put all the waste — both wet and dry — in big plastic carry bags, which are then collected by the SHGs and sent to Alevoor. “Since the waste has to be removed from these bags and then segregated, a lot of time is wasted. If wet waste is available straight away, it can be processed and be used for land-filling,” Mr. Subrahmanya said.

The CMC took up waste segregation at source in about 250 houses on an experimental basis about two years ago. “But we did not follow it up as we expected the Waste to Energy (WTE) Project to materialise, and it did not require waste segregation. But the project has got delayed for various reasons,” said Mr. Nayak.

The Indian Express              16.07.2013

BMC to start collecting segregated waste from March 2014

Besides, at the general body meeting Monday, the administration revealed that the technology to treat the dry and wet garbage separately would be made available only by March 2015.

The city generates 9,000-10,000 tonnes of waste daily, of which around 7,000 tonnes is municipal solid waste (MSW). The rest includes 10 tonnes of biomedical waste.

Additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said, "Our micro-plan for waste-segregation should be in place by March 2014. This will ensure door-to-door collection of dry and wet garbage separately - this is expected to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste going to the dumping grounds by as much as 50 per cent. The dry waste will go to recycling treatment plants."

"We have already issued an expression of interest for starting waste-to-energy plants at two dumping grounds. We expect the waste treatment plants for both dry and wet garbage to be ready by March 2015," she added.

Around 70 per cent of the solid waste management operations are handled by nine private contractors. BMC handles the rest. The contractors are responsible for collection, transportation and disposal at the three dumping grounds. The contract includes acquiring the Bharat Euro IV garbage compactors. Thirty per cent of the compactors are yet to arrive in Mumbai.

"While some vehicles are expected in September, the full fleet should be in by October. We have penalised contractors where collection has been a problem. We have asked ward officers to arrange for alternatives and ensure 100 per cent collection despite the shortage of vehicles," said Mhaiskar.

Shiv Sena corporator and leader of the house, Yashodhar Phanse of the K-West ward, where contractors have been penalised, said, "Effective solid waste management depends on the will of BMC. If the corporation works hard, it is possible to see the plan come to life."

SP corporator from L ward Saida Khan, who had raised the issue at the meeting, said, "BMC proposed these plans when the MSW rules were formed in 2000. All these, just like the micro-plan, appear feasible on paper, but ALMs can help manage the problem at its root, and address local issues in waste management," said Khan.