Thiruvananthapuram gets rid of waste in droves

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a weekend of purging for many in the city. Across the city, many citizens handed over glass waste and used footwear to City Corporation through 12 collection centres. City Corporation collected around 60 tonne of glass bottles and 25 tonne of footwear. These were sent to Tirunelveli for recycling. Next week, coconut shells and husk would be collected and sent to brick kilns around the city.

While there was no rush in any of the collection centres, citizens disposed of glass and footwear between 8am and 12pm. People from Kaudiar and Vellayambalam though were disappointed that footwear and glass were collected at two different locations at Pippinmoodu and Peroorkada ESI Hospital. At Putharikandom maidanom in East Fort, after a lukewarm start, the collection picked up pace gradually. Massive turnout was experienced at Poojapura Maidanom, Vanchoyoor court, Kazhakootam and Jagathy.

"We had kept three staffers at Jagathy to ensure that the glass and footwear were segregated. Tamil Nadu-based contractor was taking glass waste from us for the first time. So we didn't want to leave a bad impression about systems in our city," said Joy J., a health inspector. "The contractor used to take plastic waste from us and the Corporation paid for the transportation. However, glass and footwear were not taken," said health standing committee chairperson K. Sreekumar.

Many citizens had brought burned out tubelight and CFL lights which were not accepted at some location, but were accepted and stored at some other. "We will organise a special drive for lights and other e-wastes," officials said. While glass recycling facilities are a plenty in Tamil Nadu, officials could not confirm how footwear made of different materials will be recycled. If these drives become successful, the Corporation plans to dedicate each weekend to collect different types of non-biodegradable waste.