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STUDIES & OTHER INFORMATION

Waste Management & Segregation(neha@idfc.com)

Welfare of Stray Dogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FACTS ON WASTE

Terminology

  1. Municipal solid waste includes commercial and residential wastes generated in a municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical wastes;
  2.  Collection means lifting and removal of solid wastes from collection points or any other location;
  3.  Biodegradable substance means a substance that can be degraded by micro-organisms
  4.  Recycling means the process of transforming segregated solid wastes into raw materials for producing new products, which may or may not be similar to the original products;
  5.  Segregation means to separate the municipal solid wastes into the groups of organic, inorganic, recyclable and hazardous wastes;

1) Scenario in Mumbai
  

  • 6250 Tonnes of waste generated every day, out of which,
  • 1800 tons of construction waste, debris and silt
  • 3000 tons of bio-degradable waste
  • 1450 tons of mix waste (recyclable, debris etc)
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  • Collection and transportation of waste is
  • 85% from the 5600 community collection points
  • 15% door stop collection
  • 3500 collection points have bottomless open bins
  • total manpower engaged is about 33000 persons
  • The total budget outlay - capital and operating is Rs 400 crores

 

  • Solid waste collection centres are identified based on their characteristics
  •  CCRI -Residential lay out of multi-storey/high rise building with shopping lines, institutions, hotels, on major roads (above 12-15 meters width)
  •  CCRII - that on small roads (below 12-15 meters width)
  •  CCR III - Large generators -markets, shopping centres, large hotels, institutions, recreation centres
  •  CCR IV- collection of refuse from slum colonies

2) Issues

  •  Very limited segregation at source, no education on waste division.( doable)
  •  No bins at points for collection by BMC (doable)
  •  Roads go dirty in cases of strikes, no scientific sweeping management (doable)
  • transportation: Bottomless containers and open sheds- causing pollution (doable)
  • Under utilisation of vehicles for picking up of waste- less load/per km run (not for now)
  • Problems surrounding the disposal sites ( this is something which we will leave it for later)


3) Measures -immediate term (details follow)

  •  Reduction of waste at source by separation into biodegradable and waste for recycling
  •  Setting up waste collection bins at various points fixed by the BMC
  • Recycling of waste-systematic approach to handle type of waste
  • Privatisation of public road sweepin
  • g, installation of dust-bins
  •  Gather support from industrial houses/other NGO s for development of infrastructure


More information on waste management can be sourced at
http://www.envfor.nic.in

 

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Plan of action for us - Step by Step

 

  •   Take up apartments/flats in our own building, teach them about segregation of waste. This is the method- Each household will have two bags; one black bag for the bio-degradable waste (which includes of veggies and fruits and organics), second bag is white plastic bag which can take care of recyclable and inorganics. Both these bags are available in plenty in the market classified specially for waste collection. BMC is more than willing to give these bags out incase they are not available in the market. If the households can afford or if they aren't comfortable with the bags system, then they could buy bins -green (for the bio-degradable) and white bin (for the rest of the waste). What happens is most of the time these bags are so full, in case of tearing etc the bins can take care of the waste. So always better to have both. In typical building/society there is one common person nominated/designated to collect waste from each flat. And the waste generated by the building is then brought at the gate where BMC picks it up at the designated time.
  •  After completing the above task (of course these are all ongoing, educating buildings after buildings is not easy), the second step will be to find out that once the waste is segregated, who collects the recyclable part? BMC is responsible to collect only the bio stuff and due to inadequacy of facilities it ends up collecting all of the waste at times. For the recyclable material, rag pickers or pastis shall be involved. Ragpicking is a well-run industry where many people earn good money. They should be well involved in this process so all the glass, paper, plastic can be recycled with added benefits.
  •  In big societies with gardens or greenery in near by areas, vermiculture composting can be achieved. Here, the biodegradable waste is subjected to earthworms where they transform it into rich compost for the soil. A professional gardener is qualified gardener or BMC rep can be more than helpful in these matters.
  •  ALMs- Advanced local management systems- form groups or communities with locals/societies where each building pays to get their area cleaned by professionals who will be provided by BMC but are not part of the BMC. These are independent agencies
  • Bins- Bins up to the size of 120-240 ltrs are used for collection of household waste. BMC doesn't have the money to fund these. Each area, if they can invest in one bin (cost is Rs 2000 per bin- we can inspect one at the BMC office) can simplifying the procedure of the collection and improve hygiene in the city.

 

 

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