The State Level Monitoring Committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Kochi Corporation to set up material recovery facilities (MRFs) in all wards.
The directive firom the tribunal is aimed at ensuring scientific collection, storage and disposal of solid waste.
A material recovery facility is a specific centre where non-compostable solid waste can be temporarily stored by the civic body or any person authorised by it.
It will facilitate segregation, sorting and recovery of waste by waste pickers or other workforce before it is sent for processing.
Financial aid
The government’s Suchitwa Mission has been providing technical and financial support to local self-government institutions for establishing such units.
The committee has also asked the corporation to set up resource recovery facilities (RRFs) in at least six wards.
According to the Suchitwa Mission, RRF is a space equipped with the necessary infrastructure, machinery, tools, and human power to sort, clean and store non-biodegradable discards from primarily sorted municipal waste and make them available for production or consumption purposes. It will have bailing and shredding facilities too.
The recyclable waste will be sorted and channelized for recycling, while non-recyclable plastics are shredded and used for tarring.
Resource recovery facilities have become an integral part of any progressive waste management system as they highlight the need for a shift in approach from from ‘managing waste’ to ‘managing resources’.