Highlights
- The project aims to build a sustainable waste management model
- 2,500 households will receive colour coded dustbins
- Success of the project will reduce the garbage burden on landfills: EDMC
New Delhi: With the increase of waste generation in urban spaces, cities are gradually shifting to sustainable waste management solutions. Lessening dependency on civic bodies and managing a bulk of the waste by segregation and in-house recycling are steps places like Singapore, Mangalore and Fortaleza have practiced successfully. In a first, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) will be experimenting with a waste-to-compost model at Trilokpuri for decentralisation of household waste management. The project, which will go on till February 2019, will focus on household waste segregation and on making waste management self-sustainable. With around 2,500 households, the area currently generates 22 tonnes of waste daily and has a segregation rate of less than 30 per cent.
The EDMC has tied up with several local NGOs for the project, who will be responsible for going door-to-door for around 2,500 houses and encouraging residents to segregate waste. The EDMC will provide 5,000 colour coded dustbins to the households, two each for every house. All households will be required to segregate dry and wet waste into the dustbins. The dry waste will be collected by EDMC and transported to recycling units. The wet waste will be transported to a park nearby, where it will be turned into compost and sold. The EDMC estimates that at least 65 per cent of the waste turnout from the area will be wet waste, hence the amount of compost generated will also be significant.
Our plan is to ensure that there is clear distinction between dry and wet waste, when people are disposing them. When garbage collection vehicles go to the area in Trilokpuri, the two types of waste will be collected in separate vehicles. We will provide dustbins to the 2,500 households, and teach them to segregate waste properly. Organic matter such as vegetables and leaves can be easily turned into compost, said Pradeep Khandelwal, Chief Engineer, Department of Sanitation, EDMC.
The composting pits in the nearby Indira Gandhi Mahila Park will ensure the transportation cost is reduced for transporting wet waste all the way to landfills in Okhla or Ghazipur. The move will reduce burden on landfills considerably, which is one of EDMC’s priorities. Landfill sites in Ghazipur and Okhla have long exhausted their capacities, but continue to serve as dumping grounds for Delhi’s municipal corporations.
“Dumping of waste into landfills is not a sustainable waste management model. It is unhealthy for the environment and once people hand over the garbage to the municipal corporation, they are not aware of what happens to it. If they are segregating, they have a sense of responsibility and know that they are doing their bit towards making the environment better,” said Mr Khandelwal.
Post February 2019, the EDMC hopes that the model becomes self-sustainable. The municipal corporation will only be responsible for collecting the dry and wet waste and transporting it. By February 2019, the EDMC is hopeful that all the 2,500 households will segregate waste on their own and adhere to the segregation rules. While households will be fined Rs 200 if they do not segregate waste, Mr Khandelwal said that the EDMC is hopeful that the houses will segregate waste on their own and there will be no need to levy the penalty.
