THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With concerns over plastic pollution continuing unabated in the capital, the corporation has been grappling with the challenge of curbing plastic waste from choking the city’s rivers, canals and drains. In an accomplishment of sorts, the civic body, in collaboration with Plastic Fischer, a Germany-based social enterprise, removed over 600 tonnes of plastic waste from local waterbodies over the past two years -- though it also served to underscore the severity of the crisis.
This was achieved using innovative trash-boom systems -- floating barriers designed to trap plastic waste -- across canal networks and rivers including Amayizhanchan canal, Killi River and Ulloor Thodu.
In light of the effectiveness of trash booms, the civic body is planning to deploy two more such systems at strategic locations along the Amayizhanchan canal near Rajaji Nagar -- one of the critical hotspots. Abraham Thomas Renjith, project manager at Plastic Fischer, said that trash booms collect an average of 25 tonnes of plastic per month from waterbodies in the capital city.
“At present, we have employed around 24 individuals and the trash booms have been deployed at critical locations. In some locations, the waste is removed everyday,” he said.
The project was implemented in Thiruvananthapuram with support from Allianz. Mangaluru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kanpur and Varanasi are the other cities where Plastic Fischer is implementing similar projects. “We are getting a lot of enquiries from other cities within Kerala,” said Abraham. “Fencing the canal network to prevent dumping of waste proves to be ineffective,” he added.
An official of the health wing of the city corporation said that trash booms prove to be very effective. “It’s a very successful model that can be replicated by other cities and local bodies. We continue with our fight against plastic but rooting out plastic completely is impossible. Though we have strengthened waste collection and enforcement, there is no decline in the generation of waste,” said the official. The official said that trash booms will be deployed in more locations, especially the river basins in the immediate future.
German tech
Venture undertaken with Plastic Fischer, a German social enterprise
Trash-boom systems are floating barriers to trap plastic waste
Amayizhanchan canal, Killi river among waterbodies cleaned