SIVAGANGA
Karaikudi and Devakottai municipalities, which together handle over 70 tonnes of waste a day, have become forerunners in solid waste management, converting biodegradable waste into compost manure and plastic waste into raw material for laying roads and industrial use.
Collector G. Latha, who inspected the compost yard at Devakottai Rastha, where wet and dry wastes were segregated for making value-added products and some of the decentralised units on Thursday, commended the two municipalities for doing wholesome work to achieve the high standards in solid waste management.
The two municipalities had drawn out systems for 100% segregation of biodegradable and non-degradable wastes at source and disposed of the recycled items, especially plastic materials, without polluting the environment, she said.
“The two municipalities addressed every issue in solid waste management and are poised to achieve more,” she told The Hindu . During the outbreak of dengue, Devakottai municipality reported a very minimum number of dengue cases, thanks to 100% segregation of waste at source, she said.
Karaikudi municipality, comprising 36 wards, collected about 48 tonnes of waste every day after segregating wet and dry wastes and used about 22 tonnes of wet waste to produce five tonnes of compost manure at the refinement unit at the compost yard at Devakottai Rastha, A. Baskaran, Sanitary Inspector, said.
The municipality had supplied about 150 tonnes of manure to farmers in the last two months. Using machinery, sanitary workers segregated plastic waste and supplied five to six tonnes of plastic materials every week to the Department of Rural Development for laying roads, he said.
The sanitary workers observed ‘plastic Thursday’ every week, focussing on collection of plastic waste, he said.
Apart from the centralised compost yard, the municipality also operated two decentralised units, where biodegradable waste collected from vegetable markets, marriage halls and hotels was converted into manure. The decentralised units would soon be upgraded to handle three tonnes of waste a day, he added.
Devakottai municipality, comprising 27 wards, collected 23 tonnes of waste, including 15 tonnes of biodegradable waste, a day and produced about three tonnes of manure, said its Commissioner S. Parthasarathy.
The municipality converted waste plastic items into pyrolysis oil, used by industries. The two decentralised units would soon be upgraded to produce vermi compost, he added.
