The Tiruchi Corporation has decided to collect non-biodegradable waste only once in a week under its door-to-door solid waste collection system. The plan was intended to encourage source segregation, reuse and recycle, senior officials said.
In a notification distributed to commercial establishments and residential complexes, including apartments, it announced its plan. It said the plan was drawn up in 2016 but was not enforced.
According to the 2016 notification, residential complexes and commercial establishments generating over 100 kg of waste per day and occupying over 5,000 square feet of space were asked to make arrangements or tie-up with a private organisation to convert biodegradable waste into compost or bio-gas on their own. Meanwhile, they were instructed to hand over non-biodegradable waste to a recycling unit. Various workshops, awareness programmes and exhibitions were organised to provide access to these facilities.
The notification said that from March 1 onwards, non-biodegradable waste would be collected by sanitary workers of the corporation only on Wednesdays. The workers would refuse the collection if it was not segregated properly. The residents’ welfare associations and commercial establishments must begin to make arrangements for processing biodegradable waste on their own too.
Corporation Commissioner S. Sivasubramanian said the move would begin with apartment complexes and commercial establishments but will soon be applied for door-to-door collection at all households in the city. ‘There are many sustainable options available in the market,’ he said. Commercial establishments and residents’ associations must take photographs and create documentation of their preparedness and submit them to assistant commissioners of their zones.
