SAMBALPUR: In a bid to simplify waste material segregation at households, the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) has launched an initiative to sensitise the domestic helps about the process at source. Enforcement officer of the SMC, Subhankar Mohanty said, door-to-door-garbage collection facility is operational in the entire Sambalpur city limit.
“Numerous households continue to hand over the waste, generated from their households, to the vehicles of the SMC without segregating the biodegradable and non-degradable waste. Hence, the SMC has initiated an outreach programme involving domestic helps, who generally manage the household waste,” he said. For this purpose, SMC has been holding meetings of domestic helps.
Moreover, the civic body has categorised the households into three categories. The houses which segregate the waste before giving it to the SMC vehicles have been put under green category while those which do not, fall under orange category. Likewise, the houses which do not give the waste are under red category. The SMC staff are also affixing green, orange and red stickers outside the respective households.
“Apart from sensitising the domestic helps, the SMC staff are also creating awareness among the school students and the housing societies and appealing them to segregate the waste before giving it to the waste-carrying vehicles,” said Mohanty.
In the last few weeks, the SMC has been witnessing a positive outcome as many domestic helps have been consciously segregating and giving wastes to garbage collection vehicle out of a sense of responsibility, he asserted.
What happens to the waste?
140 vehicles engaged to collect waste
The vehicles carry waste to the wealth centres
Biodegradable waste is converted into compost
Non-degradable waste is brought to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
Rag pickers and scrap dealers collect the recyclable waste
Non-recyclable waste is sent to the cement factory, where it is used as fuel