The city Corporation on Monday announced a zero-waste action plan with an aim to declare Thiruvananthapuram as a zero-waste city by August this year. With the local body elections only a few months away, the action plan seeks to highlight and improve upon the Corporation’s achievements in decentralised waste management.
Announcing the action plan at the valedictory function of the three-day National Conference of Cities for Zero Waste organised by the Corporation, Mayor K. Sreekumar said the plan involved ramping up the existing community waste management systems and closing down two remaining dump sites at Erumakkuzhi and Palayam.
The number of locations with aerobic bins and material recovery facilities will be increased from the current 54 to 200 and the existing bins will be repaired. In addition, 200 portable aerobic bins will be introduced. Currently, kitchen bins have been installed in 15,000 households. This will be increased to 50,000 households.
Ten more resource recovery centres will be opened. A plastic recycling unit is also proposed to be opened. Mr. Sreekumar said the smart dry waste collection centres, opened in four locations in the city, have witnessed tremendous response from the public. Such centres will be opened in 200 locations. For this purpose, aid will be sought from private entrepreneurs or institutions. The number of dry leaf collection boxes will also be increased to 100. These activities are scheduled to be completed by July.
Park and parking
The technique of bio-mining will be used to segregate waste and clean up the dumping yards at Erumakkuzhi and Palayam market. The yard at Erumakkuzhi will be turned into a park, following the model tried at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The dumping yard at the Palayam market will be cleaned and used for parking, as part of the market improvement plan of the smart city project. The Corporation plans to clean both dumps by August.
‘No burn’ campaign
The Mayor said that one reason for the success of the decentralised waste management system in the city was the awareness campaigns conducted by the local body. Such campaigns, including the ‘no burn’ campaign, will be stepped up. The functioning of the Green Army, an initiative of the Corporation comprising student volunteers, will be strengthened with vacation camps. The volunteers will be sent for a mass outreach programme on zero waste, targeting 2.25 lakh households.