The Hindu 20.09.2010
‘Five-bin waste segregation can be tried out'
Special Correspondent
| The concept is practised in the German city of Esslingen am Necker |
I am confident that we can implement it with awareness on its benefits: Anshul Mishra
The other area of focus will be waste water treatment
COIMBATORE: Even as the Coimbatore Corporation is persuading people across its 72 wards to segregate waste at home, it is considering a more advanced measure that is in practice in the German city of Esslingen am Necker.
The Corporation has already begun distributing two bins a house under its massive Rs.96-crore Integrated Solid Waste Management Scheme. People should store in separate bins biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
“We are already facing difficulty in promoting the two-bin concept. Now, we find that the five-bin concept in Esslingen city is a better one. We will try this out in our city. I am confident that we can implement it with awareness on its benefits,” Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said at a joint press conference along with District Collector P. Umanath and Mayor R. Venkatachalam. All the three of them had been to the German city recently at the invitation of its Mayor.
The Collector said the people of Esslingen used five bins to store separately the following types of waste: organic, glass, plastics, paper/ cardboard packing material and others.
Some forms of waste were used for energy generation and also to generate heat to combat the chill during winter. “As much as 30 per cent of the heating needs in the city are met by using waste,” he said.
Other cities in India had said that Coimbatore Corporation's solid waste management project was worth emulating across the country. “But, we found a much more advanced model in Esslingen. Coimbatore can look at replicating it,” he said.
Solid waste management was one of the areas the Corporation would look at in terms of sharing of expertise, in view of the development projects being implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
The other area of focus would be waste water treatment, the Commissioner said. Waste water was treated and even made potable in Esslingen. The Coimbatore Corporation had a proposal to sell treated waste water, but for non-drinking purposes. It had already begun projects to set up sewage treatment plants.
Another area with reference to the mission was rejuvenation and maintenance of water bodies.
The Amer Lake in Esslingen had crystal clear water. Boating and canoeing was being done on it. The lake's maintenance provided valuable lessons to Coimbatore Corporation, when it was set to implement a Rs.125-crore project for the rejuvenation of eight tanks in the city under the mission.
On whether the Corporation's drive against plastics had lost steam, the Commissioner pointed out that all forms of plastics could not be seized. There was ban on only those that were below 20 microns.
The Collector pointed out that it was not appropriate to focus only on the supply aspect. People were being asked to avoid using plastic bags, but the response was not very encouraging.At the same time, a number of products such as oil came packed in plastic sachets. This made plastics unavoidable at the moment.
But, enough focus should be given on the disposal aspect. Reckless disposal of plastic waste was causing problems to the environment. People should not dump plastics along with garbage. If handed over separately, some could be recycled while the others could be disposed off through other safe ways.The Commissioner said the Corporation had tied-up with a cement factory for the disposal of plastics waste in the form of fuel pellets in its furnace.
