Bins removed to enforce SWM compliance & Plan is to make residents follow segregated disposal of waste

IN a preliminary move to make residents adhere to the segregated disposal of waste programme, Tiruchy Corporation on Tuesday started a drive to remove public litter bins from 26 wards that have
micro compost yards. The yards are used for recycling domestic and commercial waste by prevent-ing them from being piled up in major dump sites. The move is to ensure that residents hand over rou-tine waste to sanitation workers who go door-to-door to to collect waste. The bin removal would also free up space occupied by the gigantic containers, which affect proper flow of traffic. With Tiruchy Corporation effectively implementing the door-to-door waste collection process since May 5 and insisting the public hand over non-biodegradable waste to sanitation workers only on Wednesdays and other waste on the remaining days, many residents have been found dumping garbage in the bins.

 To overcome this problem, the Corporation plans to remove bins in the wards where there are micro compost yards. "Step by step, we would remove the large bins from wards with micro compost yards so residents and commercial establishments have no other option but to hand over waste during door-to-door collections. So far, we have removed 27 compactor bins from three wards and more would be removed gradually," Corporation Commissioner N Ravichandran told Express. Another issue faced by the Corporation was the operational costs of collecting waste from litter bins placed in public locations as additional vehicles would be needed to collect the garbage. By gradually reducing the number of bins, the Corporation aims at plugging revenue leakage, including for fuel consumption. The move is being implemented in 26 out of the 65 wards of the civic body where 13 micro compost yards are to be found. 'The bins would stay in commercial areas, public gathering places and near bus stands. In a phased manner, we would bring down the number of bins across the city by half," the Commissioner added. The civic body has plans to expand the decentral iced mode of waste collection, segregation and recycling to 29 micro compost yards.