Non-governmental organisations (NGO) and businesses dealing with waste are in great demand after the BBMP decided to enforce garbage segregation.
Poonam Kasturi, who founded Daily Dump, an organisation that sells waste composting products, said that there has been a remarkable increase in sales. Although she refused to give figures, she said that Kamba, a kitchen waste composter, is the most sought after.
Ravikumar S., Director (Operations) of Full Circle, an NGO that is into waste management and sells products posters, stickers, cloth bags and dry waste collection bags, said his sales have gone up.
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Dry waste collection bags have sold an additional 60 per cent, he said. Mr. Ravikumar said that in recent days 10 apartments have enrolled to obtain his waste segregation services. He said, “We create awareness among the residents about waste segregation and also train housekeeping staff.”
Wilma Rodrigues of Saahas, an NGO that works on solid waste management, said that apartment associations have called to use her expertise. She said, “Our programmes focus on segregation of waste at source.”
However, some are disappointed as their sales have not increased as per expectations. K. Shiva, proprietor of Shiva Industrial Associates, Sintex, said that he has seen only a marginal increase in sales for dustbins.
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“Several people are not aware of waste segregation. Once people know about this, our sales may increase,” he hoped.
Some customers who have opted for these products said that the products are a convenient option for the residents and help them comply with the waste segregation norms.
Satish R., secretary of Owners Association of Brindavan, a large apartment complex in the city, said that they have purchased 59 plastic dustbins in four colours to store dry, wet, sanitary and hazardous waste. Mr. Satish said, “The different colours will help make this process easy for the residents.”
Mahalakshmi Balasubramanium, secretary of Hoysala Srikrishna Apartment, said that outsourcing waste segregation to NGOs will reduce the burden on the welfare associations. She added, “Since the NGOs have done this before, we can rely on them to train our housekeeping staff and provide demonstrations for our residents. They have said that they will provide the resources for dry waste collection.”
Ms. Balasubramanium added, “We also hope that the NGO in charge of the process will monitor it and ensure that residents comply with the rules.”