Kolkata: With an eye on curbing the use of single-use plastic, KMC has decided to conduct a special drive to enforce segregation of waste at households from July 1. The KMC solid waste management department will zero in on neighbourhoods where the segregation process has been running at a snail’s pace. The civic body will also start distributing waste bins to residents of housing complexes in select areas.
According to a department official, KMC was getting requests from the residents of housing complexes for bins to deposit dry waste.Keeping this requirement in view, KMC had procured 12,000 bins last year. “The requests came particularly from areas off EM Bypass. Similarly, we zeroed in on some food hawking hubs and found them littered with dry waste,” said the KMC official. Besides installing 240-litre dry waste bins at major housing complexes, the civic body will also install such bins in areas such as BBD Bag, New Market, Camac Street, Theatre Road, Gariahat, Hatibagan and Sealdah where a majority of food stalls, eateries or restaurants are located.
However, the civic bosses are particularly worried over the huge deposition of single-use plastic bags. According to a survey conducted by a group of researchers, widespread pollution is being caused by plastic waste, especially plastic carry bags, in Kolkata. A study found that approximately 47% of restaurants in south Kolkata and 53% in the north continue to use banned plastic straws.
Nearly 35% of 4,000 tonnes of assorted municipal waste ending up at Dhapa is plastic. Of this, nearly 70% is single-use plastic polybags. “Plastic waste reaching the landfill site is less than 25% of the plastic waste the city generates daily. The rest choke the drainage system, litter playgrounds or float in ponds,” said a KMC official.
Single-use plastic continues to be the biggest headache as the ambitious project of segregation at source that was kicked off in Dec 2022 is yet to gain momentum. Much of plastic waste now mixes with biodegradable kitchen waste, recyclable and construction waste.