A major initiative towards Zero Waste Chennai has begun in Anna Nagar.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has entered into an MoU with the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), which will play the role of a knowledge partner.
The vision for the Zero Waste initiative is to minimise movement of solid waste to landfill sites. As far as possible, waste should be processed and converted in-situ at decentralised composting or organic waste processing unit or sent to specialised scientific disposal centres.
The plan is to create a live zero-waste model that could be replicated across the city. The initiative was launched as a door-to-door campaign at Anna Nagar, Zone 8, Ward 104.
During the campaign, Corporation staff, such as animators, conservancy workers, engineers and senior officials, will display a chart explaining the role and responsibilities of residents. They will then get them to sign a pledge indicating their commitment to source segregation and composting.
On June 5, the Micro Composting Centres and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) will be launched and the campaign will be expanded. The MRFs are centres where non-compostable solid waste can be temporarily stored by the local body or any person authorised by the Corporation to facilitate segregation, sorting and recovery of various components of waste. This could involve informal sector of waste pickers or any other workforce.
By August 15 (Independence Day), the Corporation and CAG expect to declare Zone 8 as Zero Waste Zone. In October, they plan to extend the process to all the zones.
The Hindu is a partner for the Zero Waste Chennai initiative.