Kochi is aiming to become the first city in the country to have waste processing units installed in all its apartment complexes.
Of the 197 flats in the city, 111 have become self-reliant with waste management system and efforts are on to persuade others to follow the practice, said T.K. Ashraf, chairman of the Health Standing Committee of the Kochi corporation.
The civic body initiated the campaign of making all the flat and apartment complexes set up waste management systems some time back with the support of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association India (CREDAI), Kerala unit.
The agency had also launched the campaign, Clean Kochi Movement, involving its members.
Kochi Corporation is planning to convene a meeting of the caretakers of the flats that have not established the waste treatment facility.
The representatives of the apartments that introduced the system will also be invited to the meeting to share their experience and good practices in waste management, said Mr. Asharaf. The decentralised processing of waste would drastically reduce the quantity of waste that reaches the street for processing, it was pointed out.
CREADI has introduced Bio-bins for flat complexes and pots for individual villas for processing the biodegradable refuses from the households, said Jose Joseph Moonjely, the Executive Director of the Movement.
One bio-bin unit can process up to 40 kg waste a day, which would be sufficient for 40 to 50 families.
It is estimated that 28,000 individual housing units in the flats have been covered by the project.
To cost Rs. 48,000
The waste is converted into bio manure in these units. Each unit would cost Rs. 48,000, Mr. Moonjely said.
Plastic waste from households shall be collected to be shredded and used for road making, he said.
In district
When it comes to the district, the movement has succeeded in bringing 286 building complexes under the project.
The success of the Kochi movement has inspired such initiatives in many other districts of the State, he said.
The State government has announced incentives for individual households for introducing decentralised waste processing units.
75 per cent subsidy
The government has also indicated that it will provide 75 per cent subsidy for the households for scheme.
The expense for setting up individual units will be fixed shortly for finalising the subsidy rates, he said.
The government had also issued a directive recently making solid waste treatment units mandatory in all upcoming apartment complexes, he said.
