Delhi usually remains in news for being one of the most polluted cities in the world. As various initiatives are being taken in the national capital to reduce pollution, the civic body of Delhi west zone has rolled out the ‘Zero Waste Offices’ plan to segregate dry waste material and recycling it into something usable.
The initiative kicked off in a few public offices in the area and is now being expanded to other offices as well after the results turned out to be good and the initiative as a whole received a positive response.
POLLUTION ISSUES IN THE CAPITAL
Deputy Commissioner of Delhi (West Zone), IAS officer Kumar Abhishek said, “The disposal of waste is a main issue in Delhi or, for that matter, any other city. The MCD is also responsible for collection and disposal of the garbage of the city. So, when we talk about waste generation in offices, it is being generated in bulk at many offices. The usage of material like stationery, paper, etc., in public offices is huge and, hence, a large amount of waste is generated, which is generally dry.”
The waste which was being collected from the public office premises used to go to a secondary collection point, after which, the waste material was diverted to a landfill. This was adding more to the waste problem of the city. Hence, the West Zone authorities, in collaboration with ITC’s Well-being Out of Waste (WOW), has started the initiative of ‘Zero Waste Offices’.
REDUCE-REUSE-RECYCLE
Under the ‘Zero Waste Office’ initiative, the authorities have come out with a concept of making office premises, coming under the jurisdiction of west zone, Zero Waste premises. MCD West Zone surveyed around 31 offices, starting from the DC Office, MCD, DM Office, Banks, Home Guards Office, House Tax of MCD, Police Stations, etc.
Mr. Kumar Abhishek said, “The idea behind this initiative is to segregate the recyclable material out of the waste collected from the offices. For this, the waste will go to the processing site of Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and ITC-WOW, where it will be segregated. The recyclable material is first separated and then sent to the authorized recyclers for converting it into around 13 categories including paper, card board, pet bottles, etc. Through this, it is not being thrown in dumping sites, rather the material is reused again.”
Hence, the material which is being collected from the offices cannot be called waste as it still has value after being thrown to dustbins, the officer added. As this dry waste is being recycled and reused by the authorized recyclers, in lieu of it, ITC WOW is providing stationery to the offices. Each day around 5-12 kg dry waste is generated from each office and is then sent for processing.
The campaign was started with two or three offices, but after getting a good response, the authorities are mapping other public offices in the west zone of Delhi as well. Moreover, a total of 38 colonies/societies and 67 MCD schools were also contacted by ITC WOW for proper disposal of dry waste.
BENEFITS
Mr. Kumar said, “In the long run, people will first understand the concept of segregation and that waste has value and can be reused again. Secondly, we are trying to minimize the waste as the end goal is to reduce it to zero. And lastly, our work is getting simpler by following the main aim of Swatch Bharat Abhiyan, which is to follow the three Rs – Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.”
On the lines of this initiative, the authorities are trying to make ‘Zero Waste Colonies’ also. Under this, the department is encouraging the Resident Welfare Associations to have their own small compost plants. Around 56 colonies were identified under the categories Harit Mitra and Sahbhagita. These colonies were felicitated by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi for their work towards making their colonies garbage free and, thereby, helping in making the environment cleaner and greener.
It is informed that around 2500 Kg dry waste has been received to ITC Wow from Zero Waste offices and 1200 Kg from Zero Waste Schools.
