From May 1, BMC drive to collect hazardous domestic sanitary waste
According to officials, housing societies and other businesses can avail the facility by registering themselves for the service
According to senior civic officials, Mumbai generates 7,000-8,000 metric tonnes of waste per day (Archive) In a move that seeks to improve waste management and sanitation workers’ health, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to launch a special service for targeted collection of segregated, domestic sanitary waste such as sanitary napkins, bandages, diapers and expired medicines, among other hazardous waste, across Mumbai, starting May 1. On Tuesday, the civic body commenced registrations for the service, which can be availed by housing societies, women’s hostels, salons and educational institutions, among others.
According to senior civic officials, Mumbai generates 7,000-8,000 metric tonnes of waste per day. Of this, nearly 70 to 80 tonnes of waste is accounted for by sanitary waste related to personal hygiene. These waste items range from sanitary napkins, diapers, tampons, condoms and other items such as contaminated cotton, bandages, nails, expired medication, needles, razors etc as well as other waste generated from beauty parlours like waxing strips PPE among others.
“Though these items are hazardous, they are often neglected and they are discarded as a part of common household waste, without any proper segregation. However, this poses a serious threat to the health of sanitation workers while also posing other complications related to treatment of the dumped waste,” said Kiran Dighavkar, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Solid Waste Management).
In a bid to eventually treat these hazardous domestic waste items, the civic body is set to launch a drive for the collection of ‘domestic sanitary and special care waste’ in the city from May. According to officials, housing societies and other businesses can avail the facility by registering themselves for the service.
Dighavkar added that besides giving a boost to responsible waste management and protecting sanitation workers’ health and dignity, the initiative is also aimed at de-stigmatising sanitary waste.
BMC is eyeing to earmark one tempo each across the city’s seven zones, which will specially cater to this collection drive and will be deployed in the locations which have registered for the service. Sanitary domestic waste — encompassing used sanitary napkins, diapers, expired medication, razors and other used items of personal hygiene — will be collected in yellow coloured bags, which will later be dispatched to plasma-based processing units. To educate people about the drive, the civic team will visit the registered establishments to create awareness about the process.
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