KOCHI: The haphazard disposal of sanitary pads and diapers is a menace that several local bodies fail to address. Offering a solution, AAKRI an appbased scrap collection service has launched its biohazard (diapers, sanitary pads and domestic biodisposables) waste collection in Kochi city.
Having tied up with the Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Limited (KEIL), AAKRI collects biohazard waste from households and treats it scientifically at KEIL’s plant installed at Brahmapuram. Despite the availability of facilities to treat this kind of waste in the city, there is no proper channel to get it treated, said AAKRI founder C Chandrashekhar.
“AAKRI is trying to fill this gap. Not just for biohazard waste but for any kind of scrap. Customers are paid to sell scrap to us. And we collect all sorts of scrap, from paper to e-waste,” he said. While AAKRI already runs a service to collect other waste, this is the first venture in biohazard waste collection, Chandrashekhar said. “Apart from households, we collect biohazard waste from kindergartens and nursing homes, where most people find it difficult to dispose them of.
Though many people use incinerators, the process pollutes the air,” he said. Once established in Kochi, the firm plans to expand their operations to other cities in the state. The collected waste is handed over to the KEIL’s plant daily. “There are four main categories of waste red, yellow, white and blue.
We now cater to the yellow category that includes expired or discarded medicines, chemical waste, biotechnology and other clinical laboratory waste, apart from sanitary pads and diapers,” Chandrashekar pointed out. Though the service was launched last week, booking was done via phone calls. “From Saturday, it has been made available on the app for customers to schedule a pickup.
The customers can opt for our pre-paid subscription plans,” he said. The service has three plans basic, standard and corporate. The basic plan is a onetime pick-up of the biowaste at Rs 80 per kg while the standard plan includes four pickups with a validity of 60 days, at Rs 70 per kg. The corporate plan provides 12 pick-ups with a validity of 90 days, at Rs 65 per kg, Chandrashekar said.