Tripunithura Municipality has proposed an ambitious project in its budget for 2015-16 to tackle plastic waste menace.
Earmarking Rs. 20 lakh for the project, the municipality has proposed to collect clean plastic at a cost of Rs. 10 a kilo. “The plastic bags are difficult to mange as they are used and thrown indiscriminately,” said R. Venugopal, chairman of the municipal council.
He told The Hindu that Tripunithura town generated about 2 lakh kilograms of plastic waste a year. It includes different types of carry bags, plastic used in packaging grocery items, cement bags and hard plastic such as buckets. There was no organised system to collect plastic waste in the town. Some Kudumbasree units collected plastic waste from the households. It could be expanded further by involving residents’ associations, neighbourhood groups and even groups of school children. A punching machine worth Rs. 8 lakh, which would compress the collected plastic and make packs of 50 kg, had been ordered. They would be stored in a godown. “The punching machine would help reduce the volume of the plastic, which would make the storage easy,” said he said. The storage area could hold these plastic blocks for a year, he added.
Residents’ reaction
Residents’ associations in the town have taken the proposal with mixed feelings. “It is a project that is not likely to be implemented,” said V.C. Jayendran, convener of the Tripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents’ Association. Loads of plastic were being burnt at the Mekkara ground behind the Government Arts College with the municipality’s knowledge, he alleged. Anand Shyam, an entrepreneur who has expertise in waste management, asked a few questions. “Would the municipality pay all the people who dump plastic waste in Tripunithura? What kind of plastic it was planning to collect? Plastics come in different grades and mixing them together may not prove commercially viable,” he said.
However, Mr. Venugopal said: “what we need to do is get started and for this everybody’s support is important”. It will be the first-of-a-kind project in the State if it gets implemented.”
