One-stop place for waste management

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's first all-in-one waste management facility opened at Manacaud, the city will soon get six other resource recovery centres under the project at an estimated cost ranging from R 7 lakh to R 15 lakh. As part of the initiative, the Corporation has started collecting non-biodegradable waste on a daily basis.

The new facility at Manacaud has a resource recovery centre (RRC)  along with additional facilities, including plastic-shredding units, toilet facilities for women and aerobic bin units. This is the second resource recovery centre constructed, after Muttathara and the 44th material recovery facility of the corporation.

The resource recovery centre at Manacaud has been constructed by converting a parking lot. "The centres will help in reducing waste management issues. Through this model, we want to spread awareness about composting perishable waste and recycling non-biodegradable waste,” said Anoop Roy, Corporation health inspector.  The aerobic unit at Manacaud now consists of 10 bins but the number might increase, he added.
The waste from the markets and households will be processed in the aerobic unit. “ Earlier people were not confident to use aerobic bins but it has changed now. We have even provided aerobic bins in jails. The public can now handover dry, cleaned plastic, cloth and e-waste at the resource recovery centres,” said T Alexander, health supervisor.

The Corporation has been conducting drives for non-biodegradable waste, including plastic and e-waste on a monthly basis, and the result has been impressive.Alexander says, “ We have come up with a facility where waste can be taken to these centres. People have been appointed by the corporation for the same. We are also trying to keep a check on whether all families in every ward are using this facility and if no, the reason for it. We have also formed an awareness team for each ward.”

The primary objective of setting up these resource recovery centres to create awareness among people so that they can make use of the facility. The dry waste collected in the centres will then be taken to the agency for further procedures.  

The chief engineer of the Local Self-Government Department has recently directed all local bodies to strictly use shredded plastic in roadworks to clear off the waste collected in RRCs.