MSW – Reduce & Segregate
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) launched on 2nd October 2014, -“Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) refers to a systematic process that comprises of waste segregation and storage at source, primary collection, secondary storage, transportation, secondary segregation, resource recovery, processing, treatment, and final disposal of solid waste in order to achieve scientific solid waste management in the 4,041 cities and towns of the country, home to some 300 million people.”
ccckolkata partnered with NGO Ektara (www.ektara.in) in February 2015 for a Project on REDUCE, SEGREGATION for MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT amongst the children and the community of EkTara which comprises of approximately 700 children between the ages of 3+ to 18 years, and close to 100 local community residents from one of Kolkata’s largest Slum – Darapara, inthe Topsia area of KMC Ward # 59, Kolkata city
The Project initiatives :
- Waste Segregation – in blue and green bins; in classrooms, in art-rooms, in kitchen, in the income generation programme
- Reduce waste – in choice of food and its packaging, in kitchen, in classrooms, in art-rooms, in workshop
- Reuse & Recycle waste – specially in art rooms, to make daily utility articles like newspaper to paper bags, plastic bottles to planters, Kitchen to Compost, others
- Reduce Plastic usage – NO PLASTIC DAY observed every Fridays with a target to make Ektara a NO PLASTIC organization; jute shopping bags in the kitchen, purchase of non-wrapper food and raw-materials, children do not bring any plastic bags or plastic wrapped food articles, others. Waste generation has been reduced by close to 80%
- Dissemination and Awareness Programmes – amongst staff, teachers, children, parents and in the local community
- Observance of Earth Day, Environment Day
- Environment Communication Corner
“In MSWM processing and reuse of waste is most important. In this context segregation of waste at source (of generation of waste) becomes critical. It is clear that without segregation, technologies for processing waste, including waste to energy processes, will not work. It is also clear that without segregation, waste cannot be recycled and reused to become a resource. It will at best be collected and transported, but not managed.” NOT IN MY BACKYARD, a CSE Publication, 2016.