CHENNAI: In a bid to prevent floating plastic from entering the Bay of Bengal, waste management company Kabadiwalla Connect, in association with Danish funding agency Danida Green Business Partnerships, Denmark-based NGO Ocean Plastic Forum, and manufacturing company Gleco, on Tuesday inaugurated a trash barrier in the Buckingham Canal at Vettuvankeni. The 60-metre-long barrier is made of rubber, with attached plastic booms. The barrier’s height, the team said, can be adjusted, depending on the water level.
Plastic waste collected by the barrier will be removed by a group of waste pickers and fishermen the waste management company has tied up with. Kabadiwalla Connect has tied up with a scrap shop to ensure the waste is recycled. The other waste collected will be dumped at the Perungudi dumpyard.
Speaking at the inauguration, Nikhil Raj, president of the Rotary Club of Madras, said although the barrier is a simple intervention, it could have a major impact in preventing plastic from reaching the sea. He spoke on the damage caused by plastic waste to marine life, particularly turtles, and said such initiatives could be replicated across canals and waterbodies in the city.
Mari Goudar, scientist ‘E’ at the National Centre for Coastal Research, said similar projects taken up in the past had failed due to poor maintenance, and stressed that the involvement of the local community is key to ensuring sustainability.
Indumathi M Nambi, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-M, observed that more water hyacinth than plastic had accumulated after the barrier was placed. She said solutions must be explored to address the hyacinth problem and emphasised the need for behavioural change among the public to prevent littering and discharge of sewage into the canal.
Ganga Sridhar, president of Mandaveli Raja Street Residents Welfare Association, noted how plastics were one of the main reasons for clogging all canals during Chennai floods in 2015 and congratulated Kabadiwalla Connect for the pilot initiative.
Swathi Lakshmi of Kabadiwalla Connect said the collected plastic and garbage will be segregated, with polypropylene plastic separated, converted into pellets, and used to manufacture industrial bags. She said waste-pickers and local fishermen involved in the project will be provided health insurance under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, along with protective gear.
The project is being implemented at a cost of $130,000, with Gleco making industrial bags using 70% virgin plastic and 30% recycled plastic, including plastic recovered from Buckingham Canal, for industrial use including in Europe.