KAKINADA: With the ever increasing plastic waste posing a challenge, the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, that is yet to set up a solid waste management plant, has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to address the perennial problem.
After imposing restrictions on the use of carry bags and undertaking a door-to-door sensitisation programme, the corporation has now focused on the recycle and reuse of plastic waste and started using it as a substitute to bitumen in the laying of internal roads in the city.
Used carry bags and disposable tumblers have already replaced bitumen in 10 internal roads laid in the city in the recent past and the officials are now planning to use plastic for the tarred road surface for the re-carpeting works to be undertaken henceforth. “We have found that there is a drop by 10% in the use of bitumen that helped us reduce the road laying expenses. This is in addition to the successful handling of plastic wastes and providing livelihood to the chiffoniers,” says S. Aleem Basha, Municipal Commissioner, talking to The Hindu .
The city with 82,855 households and 3.25 lakh population generates 220 metric tonne of garbage every day. Of which, the plastic wastes account for 15.4 MT and most of it can either be reused or recycled.
ID cards
For the first time, the civic body has issued identity cards to 47 rag-pickers from different parts of the city and established 10 collection centres to purchase the plastic waste. “The prices vary from item to item. For example, for the used water bottle, the rag-picker can get three different prices, one each for the bottle, cap and the wrap,” explains Mr. Basha. From these centres, the contractors concerned buy the waste and use them in the laying of roads.
“The purchase scheme is encouraging the chiffoniers to collect plastic wastes. We are now focusing on chalking out plans for reusing the wastes,” says the official.
Impressed upon the concept of ‘plastic roads’, East Godavari Collector H. Arun Kumar, also the special officer of the civic body, is considering the option of expanding the practice to all the roads to be laid in the district. “The recycling technology helps us get rid of the wastes and the quality of roads is nowhere inferior to those being laid in the conventional mode,” he observes.
Graphic points:
Transformation process
•Plastics of different types can be used
•The wastes to be shredded and heated to 165 degree centigrade
•The bitumen is to be heated to 160 degree centigrade before mixing the heated wastes
•The resultant mix is used for laying of roads
