The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Project for treating non-biodegradable waste planned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Project for treating non-biodegradable waste planned

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUPUR, OCT. 3. The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) is planning a project for treatment of non-biodegradable domestic waste (dry waste) here. Initially, it would be implemented in select areas and then extended to all 52 municipal wards in the town.

The CEE started a project early this year at Palacode, near Hosur, for domestic dry waste management in association with the town panchayat and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. Women self-help groups were trained in door-to-door collection of segregated waste.

``We are considering implementation of a similar programme in Tirupur,'' said the CEE project coordinator, Archana Dange.

During the last three years, the efforts of the CEE were focussed on the organic waste composting component of the comprehensive domestic waste management programme in Tirupur (an initiative of the Tirupur municipality).

Under this programme, non-governmental organisations were involved in conducting awareness programmes and a Hyderabad-based company operated the compost yard at Koilvazhi, near Tirupur. Now the door-to-door collection was being implemented in almost all the wards. Supply of the segregated biodegradable waste had been streamlined and the municipality was considering steps to increase the quantity of this supply.

Ms. Dange said in such a scenario, ``there was an increasing need to set up a separate system for handling the dry waste (plastic, paper, rags and foam materials).''

The CEE was discussing with the municipality and the Directorate of Women Welfare on involving the women SHGs in the town for this project. Initially about 10 groups could be involved. They would be trained in door-to-door collection of dry waste, apart from re-processing it and marketing the end products (such as bags, mats, covers and files).

The SHGs would collect the segregated dry waste regularly from industries, commercial establishments and houses in the select area. A nominal service cost could also be levied. The groups would re-process the waste and the CEE would help them in marketing the end products.

This would serve as an additional source of income for the SHGs and would also establish a system for treating the non-biodegradable waste. At least five or six groups could operate for this programme in each ward in the town. However, the details of the project were yet to be finalised, she said.

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