Garbage Segregation at home - only way to go forward

It is obvious that the city planners are not only having their hands full but also their dumps full in regards to the handling of Garbage. Bengaluru had recently witnessed a huge problem of finding places to dump its garbage.

We keep reading that 60% of the garbage generated by households could be re-cycled but is getting added to the food waste and is being dumped as a whole for collection by the garbage compactors. While civic bodies can bring in rules to ask commercial establishments to follow some norms and punish them, if they don’t, when it comes to domestic it is unlikely to work and no Corporator/Councillor worth his salt would like to face the wrath of his voters.

Under these circumstances what is that could be done at domestic level where by convenience we would like to dump everything into our dustbins and dump it all in the garbage bins placed outside our buildings or in our locality. I believe there needs to be a two pronged strategy to make segregation successful.

Step 1: Get a 3pc garbage bin developed which is detachable (three bins can be simply clipped together with a removable clip like the one in the picture). These bins naturally will be colour coded as per the universally agreed colour codes for segregation. Larger bin will be used for Re-cycleble material, brown can be used for food waste and other bin for material like glass n metals, batteries n electronic waste which need a different kind of disposal. Food waste from the ‘Brown’ bin alone needs to go to the garbage bins. India being a major re-cycle nation other waste can be even sold to the ‘Raddhiwala’ or dumped appropriately as designated by the civic authorities.

Step 2: Children who are most likely to play a very important role in this entire program should be extensively taught at schools about the colour coding of the waste and why it needs to be followed. Primarily in the interest of their own future, slowly children can be encouraged to even campaign among their neighbourhood about the importance of segregation. Children are likely to play a very vital role when it comes to the segregation of waste at home as per the colour coding. Once the codes get in to their mind we can even expect the children guiding the adults about the right ways of waste disposal.

Step 3: City planners can come up with a compulsory segregation plan like the Rain water harvesting work done in Chennai to set up waste segregators at every house hold/ apartment complex in addition to the commercial establishments. All new buildings and complexes could be asked to incorporate food waste conversion/gasification plants, there are enough bio-digesters available for domestic needs in the international market. Existing homes can be incentivised to incorporate the same or penalised for not installing the same. Gas thus produced from the digesters can be used for producing energy at that location.

Step 4: Civic authorities should ensure there are colour coded bins available at every locality for extensive segregation. Food waste drums should not be part of these. All food waste bins have to be populated closer homes and should be emptied every 48 hours at the least. Now that the other waste is separated people should be encouraged to come and dump the same at designated bins only. If any violators are there punitive measures can be thought of. Sold waste which has been separated at source can either be disposed of to the re-cyclers or in such a way it need not go to the dump yards.

Step 5: NGO’s which are engaged in educating the public at large about the waste disposal system, will have to start playing a major role in ensuring the colour coding is understood by all including the maids of the households. This is possible when people living in the slums too are educated on the colour codes. In this regard corporate could be roped in to establishing /providing the ‘colour coded domestic bins’ free of cost to the people living in slums.

Since theft of bins is a common complaint, a law could be passed to prevent the bins from being purchased from the stealers that any of these colour coded bins are found with un authorised persons they will be sent to prison.

Once the Step 3 is implemented in right earnest the problem of disposing the food waste will be taken care of. Nothing can be achieved at one go, efforts should be taken to start the program at selected locations and then spread to the rest of the city/town. Involving public education can be suitably done through Radio and TV by roping in the celebrities too when required.