The Hindu              30.08.2013

Coimbatore Corporation to intensify drive against plastics

Staff Reporter

Of the 800 tonnes waste the civic body manages everyday, around five per cent is plastics

With a renewed vigour the Coimbatore Corporation will soon launch a drive against the use of plastic bags less than 40-micron thickness. The Corporation will table a subject in this regard before the Council on Thursday for approval.

The subject says the widespread use by members of the public and traders of plastic bags, plastic-coated plates, plastic cups, tumblers, plastic table mats, etc. finally end up on the streets. From there they reach the drains, choke the flow of sewage and finally pollute the environment. Not only that, the plastics also kill the animals that consume them.

The Government has enacted the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and framed the Plastic Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2011 banning plastic bags less than 40-micron thickness. The Corporation proposed to act against those who manufacture, stock and sell such bags and also against those who use those bags.

A senior Corporation official says that the civic body has been struggling every day in dealing with plastics. Of the 800 tonnes waste the Corporation manages everyday, around five per cent is plastics – 40 tonnes.

In the absence of source segregation, the plastics get mixed with other waste to only complicate the segregation process.

The official says that this time the Corporation is very serious about enforcing the rule and initiating action also because the cost of handling waste is increasing by the day as the Corporation is forced to look for projects like waste-to-energy plant to solve the problem.

The Corporation Council in April this year debated the issue after Ward 61 Councillor S.M. Samy raised the issue.

After a few other councillors also voiced their concerns, the Mayor, S.M. Velusamy, asked the Commissioner ,G. Latha to constitute a committee to device ways to remove plastics from drains, roads and vacant lands.

He had also raised the issue in September last year when the Corporation launched a mass cleaning drive.

The Mayor had said that when Corporation workers had cleaned drains in response to residents’ complaints about choked drains, they found that plastics were the culprit.

Statistics

Statistics available with the Corporation reveal that the civic body has this year (till June 15, 2013) seized 2,814 kg plastics.

The seizure in 2012 was around 3,000 kg and in 2011 it was nearly 5,000 kg.

The Hindu              30.08.2013

Coimbatore emulates Pune for eco-friendly measures

Staff Reporter

Carry out any of the following and you shall have the Coimbatore Corporation knocking on your door with tax concession: segregate waste, or harvest rainwater, or tap solar energy to power your house, or avoid selling and using plastic tumblers, carry bags, plastic-coated plates, etc.

The Corporation mooted this proposal at Thursday’s urgent council meeting and the council passed the resolution. The Corporation has taken a cue from the Pune Municipal Corporation, where such a scheme is successfully functioning.

Thursday’s resolution says that in order to encourage residents to avoid use of plastics, tap solar energy and segregate waste, the Corporation shall provide incentive, possibly a tax concession. The resolution, in the first part, targets traders and retail businessmen asking them to avoid buying plastic bags, cups, plates and selling the same to customers.

The second part targets residents and promoters of under-construction buildings to harvest rainwater. And if they do so, it says the Corporation will extend a tax concession. The third part asks residents and owners of commercial establishments to install solar energy systems in such a way that they save considerably on power charges.

And, the fourth part of the resolution asks residents to segregate waste and then hand over the segregated waste to the Corporation to avail of tax concession.

Talking to The Hindu after the passage of the resolution, Corporation Commissioner G. Latha says based on this resolution, the Corporation will devise rules and procedures on how to implement the proposal, for it should not be in contravention of the government’s laws.

Once the rules are drafted and in force, residents or traders can apply in writing stating what they have done. Based on the application, Corporation’s staff will inspect the place, ascertain the facts and then recommend tax concession.

As for segregation of waste, the Corporation is ready to train rag picker groups, professionalise them and then link them with residents to collect dry waste, says Ms. Latha, adding that the Corporation is ready to work with residents associations.