For all the initiatives that BBMP boasts of, a study conducted on extracting value from the city's waste has found that nearly 60 per cent of dry waste is sent out of the State to be recycled and processed because the city lacks adequate technology to do the needful.
For instance, the city has no technology to recycle metal waste. Most of the metal waste, which includes iron, tin, copper wire, bronze and aluminium, is sent to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi for processing. The city does not even recycle its newspaper waste, which is sold to recyclers in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Palani in Tamil Nadu.
The study was conducted by Social Venture Partners, Bengaluru, a group partnering with BBMP in dry waste processing. It has pointed out that lack of recycling facilities means loss of revenue. It has proposed a recycling park in the city with state-of-the-art recycling technology. It recommends setting up an exclusive recycling yard on the outskirts on the lines of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayan said that such a yard is the need of the hour and that the civic body is willing to support the project.
Sources said BBMP is looking for a public-private-partnership (PPP) model. The civic body wants a private player to invest in the technology while BBMP is willing to provide land and other assistance.
