When two Coimbatore-based youth, C. Prashant and Saravanan V., came together for the ‘No Dumping My Waste My Responsibility’ project, little did they realize that in a short span of time they will be able to successfully transform the way waste is managed in the city. Motivated by the success they had achieved, the duo now aims at making Coimbatore a rolemodel city in India in waste management.

The project is supported by the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) and the corporate house ACC. The youth, who are also a part of NGO Meipporul, have set up kiosks in more than a dozen apartment complexes in Coimbatore and the International Airport.

The residents of these apartments are provided with one bag and two bins. On a daily basis, the families collect and segregate the waste generated as organic, inorganic, and hazardous, in the bag and the two bins. Each home deposits the waste in the kiosk that is set up in their apartment premises. In March this year, nearly 20,000 kg wet waste, 60,563 kg dry waste, and 752 kilos of reject waste was collected from all the kiosks in the city.

The waste is collected from these kiosks everyday and is transported to the segregation centres. At these centres, the organic waste is processed in vermin-compost plants, and the rest of the waste is segregated. ACC Cement uses the plastic waste (non-organic waste) as fuel. About 700 kilos of non-recyclable waste was sent to the ACC Cement factory where it was used as kiln burning fuel.

Motivated by the response that the two have received in Coimbatore, they have plans of expanding this project to Chennai too.

Photo: The ‘No Dumping My Waste My Responsibility’ project that is changing the face of Coimbatore.