Thiruvananthapuram: Waste piles overwhelm plastic collection drive

Thiruvananthapuram: The plastic collection drive organised by the city corporation on Saturday  faced some issues as the amount of plastic which people brought exceeded the capacity of the vehicles. Though the drive was supposed to go on till 12 noon,  the corporation staff stopped the collection  at 10 a.m. on the premises of Journalists’ Colony, near NCC Nagar. Those  who had come with their loads of plastic waste were asked to go to Pipinmood junction, where the collection was still in progress. 

A dejected  old couple were seen returning home in an autorickshaw  packed to the brim with waste. Some people  dumped the waste in front of Poomalliyoorkonam temple.    The collection resumed later. A senior corporation official said  that  the  colony was a new collection point  and that the staff  were not familiar with the process. “Normally, when vehicles become full,  they are  unloaded at the resource recovery centre. The staff at  the colony did not know this. Later, the  Mayor intervened and they have been briefed about it,” the official said.

Health standing committee chairperson K. Sreekumar said the colony was the only point where there were issues.  But,  there were problems at  Jagathy grounds too. Though the civic body had said that rubber and e-waste would not be collected, people  brought it hidden under a pile of plastic.  The staff checked the sacks as some recycling agencies had earlier rejected the waste from the corporation because of the organic residue on it. This time, the corporation had specified that all the plastic waste brought should be clean.