In a unique initiative, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages on Tuesday signed an MoU to put in place a sustainable plastic waste management system in the city.
Under this unique collaborative venture, a 6,000-sq ft area Swachhata Kendra would be established near the temporary transit station (TTS) at Sainik School for transport of solid wastes.
The initiative would be undertaken in 10 BMC wards--12, 13, 16, 25, 27, 30, 34, 40, 41 and 53. The Swachhta Kendras or “integrated material recovery centres” will be recycling all types of plastic PET, HPDE, LDPE, PVC, PP, PS and others types.
The Swachhta Kendra will aim to ensure collection of nearly 5 MTs/ day of all types of plastics collection, segregation from different sources and to create a capacity of 10 ton per day minimum processing of all types of plastic waste.
The Swachhta Kendra project near TTS targets to recycle at least 6,800 metric tonnes of plastic. This will also improve socioeconomic conditions, better lives and livelihoods of at least 700 waste pickers or Swachh Sathis.
The pilot project would also ensure all social security measures like insurances, health, pensions, dress, safety gears, identity cards, health etc, for all the 20 waste pickers (Swachh Sathii) involved directly at the Swachhta Kendra or the 600-odd involved in collection and segregation at the various levels, places within the waste value chain/waste ecosystem as explained in the waste inflow-outflow point over 4 years.
