DRY WASTE-1

I have practised wet- dry segregation of wastes for more than a decade now. I started with great enthusiasm and used to keep out two separate bins- one with wet and one with dry waste for collection. In a couple of days I discovered that the cleaner was collecting both in one bin only effectively mixing it. So I started with ‘education’ of the cleaning staff. Cleaning staff are usually simple poor people with a habit of saying ‘Yes’ to everything and then doing whatever is most convenient to them later. It is not that they don’t understand or are purposely non cooperative; only that they do not have the time and the authority to get things moving in a way that they would like it. So ‘Yes’ it was and then back to business as usual. Plus a different member of the family came for collection daily and then each had to be told separately. All in all it meant that I had to keep a watch through the collection process everyday- that was not possible. This was my home- grown waste management system, for several years. Then I noticed that rag-pickers needed dry waste.

 So I started to store the dry waste for upto a week and then call over the local rag-picker to take it. This meant I had to really spend my time one day of the week tracking the whereabouts and really request her to come into the building- this was also a tough thing to do regularly. Next solution was to lug the dry waste on my weekly visit to the market and give it to the dry waste segregation centre directly. But within a couple of months this segregation centre became very irregular in its operations and it used to happen that I would take the dry waste there only to find the collection centre closed- and then had to return with my gunny sack. And then come home and look for a rag-picker to take it- a lot of work!

Thankfully Swacch Parle Abhiyan started around that time and I was relieved that a collection van would be sent home for the dry waste. For some reason- the SPA started insisting on ‘super segregation’ means the dry waste had to be separated into further parts –dry paper, dry plastic, spoilt paper and plastic, e-waste and what- not (I have forgotten the exact details).  And plus there was money to be had from these at fixed rates. It was  a comedy of errors- the dry waste van from the vendor would first arrive late due to traffic, late-coming staff and other usual chaos that characterises such arrangements. Then its movements would be tracked closely on the wa group. Each building used to act like one ‘customer’ demanding that the van come at certain time, park in certain way, collect the stuff and plus there began allegations of dishonesty about weighing and calculations- all for stuff that till then was thoughtlessly dumped in garbage!  See, the dry waste collection system is manned by simple folks who don’t go to B- school (or any school for that matter). But Parlekars and SPA expected that level of organisation nevertheless.  The transaction time for each building was too long as stuff had to be weighed and paid for and then transported separately and therefore not viable. So the ‘super segregation’ was stopped (thankfully). Eventually, door- to- door dry waste collection through SPA was withdrawn to make way for the BMC approved twice- weekly collection service.