THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst allegations that the City Corporation has wasted away the three months given by the agitating residents of Vilappilasala to find alternative and decentralised methods for treatment of garbage, statistics on the month-wise processing of waste show that segregation of waste has been the most efficient these past few months.This is directly reflected in the amount of plastic waste collected, which in November was almost double the amount collected in July. The number of vehicles used for transporting the plastic waste from the city to the landfill at Vilappilasala has also increased from 175 in July and 176 in August to 301 in November. ‘’The amount of plastic waste collected is so huge, as much as 1,426 tonnes in November for example, that we need to think of big players to recycle or reuse it,’’ said Corporation health officer Dr Sreekumar. In October, the plastic waste collected was 1,214 tonnes, which came up to 289 loads in lorries. Until now, segregation of waste into what is degradable and what is not even at source, that is from the houses itself, did not prove to be effective, as the vehicles having two chambers for degradable and non-degradable waste developed technical snags like decaying of the partition and unequal weight in either chamber and so on. Meanwhile, the amount of non-segregated waste has come down drastically from 1,874 tonnes in July to less than one-fourth the amount in November. While 353 lorries were needed to transport the non-segregated waste in July, in November, the City Corporation had to use just 67 vehicles. With the amount of non-segregated waste coming down and plastic waste going up, it is clear that some serious thought has gone into increasing the efficiency of the waste treatment process and reducing the pollution of the environment at Vilappilsala. ‘’Even the problem of the leachate polluting the waters will be solved once the leachate plant becomes functional. What will come out of the treatment plant will be clear water, sans any smell. The other problem of colour of the leachate will also be taken care of soon,’’ said Dr Sreekumar. With the expansion of the garbage treatment plant, covering of heaped waste and the commissioning of the leachate treatment plant, Corporation officials assure a near-total solution to the environmental problems posed by the garbage treatment plant.
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