In the absence of better waste management, increasing garbage has become a problem in many cities of India. Mountains of garbage area common sight, which causes maximum damage to the environment and human health. However, in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad, waste is not only being managed in a better way, but beautiful tree guards and other similar things are being made from it by recycling the plastic waste.
And, recently, the country’s first decentralised mini waste energy plant has started in Ghaziabad. The Municipal Corporation has set up a garbage factory on the basis of the Triple P model, where the waste is processed and composted using the separation method. Behind it all is 2015-batch IAS officer and Municipal Commissioner of Ghaziabad, Mahender Singh Tawar.
Under his leadership, Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam is setting up India’s first decentralised waste energy plant to scientifically dispose of the non-recyclable dry waste processed from garbage. The Municipal Corporation has made a beautiful board of ‘Gajab Ghaziabad’ from the plastic made from garbage and got it installed in Rajendra Nagar. Earlier, computer keyboard-sized benches were made and installed on the Anand Vihar border. Indian Masterminds interacted with IAS officer Mahender Singh Tawar and other officials to know more about these initiatives.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
IAS officer Mahender Singh Tawar said, “The plastic garbage, which became a headache for the municipal bodies, will now become the identity of the beauty of Ghaziabad. Not only is the city being made garbage free, but better use of that waste is also being done in the interest of the city and the corporation.”
The waste is being recycled and used to make plastic tree guards, pots,and many other items.Even manure is being produced out of it. Better management of waste has led to a better use of plastic and most importantly, it has reduced plastic pollution.
“Reduce, Reuse and Recycle–that’s our motto and it is happening. Due to this, we do not have to buy many things, rather we make and use them from the disposal of waste,” the officer said.
PLASTIC WASTE
Dr. Mithilesh Kumar, Municipal Health Officer, Ghaziabad said, “This is the visionary project of our municipal commissioner. He believes that plastic should be developed like tourism, till it is completely out of use and does not stop polluting our environment. That’s why we try to bring it to reuse.”
Plastic is being reused in such a way that many new usefull things are being made from it, like treeguards, pots, baby stools, wall clocks, floor tiles. Even beautiful paintings have been made from plastic. “We have also started a new tradition. When people retire, we give them wall clocks made from recycled plastic as a memento,” Dr Kumar added.
The entire process, which involves the use of a lot of machines and technology, is carried out through third party agreement with vendors.
TREE GUARDS
In Ghaziabad, beautiful plastic tree guards are a common sight these days. These are all made by Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation.
Dr Kumar said, “We have got about 100 tree guards made and have given orders for more. We are using these tree guards for covering trees and also for beautification. The biggest advantage in this is that if you install tree guards made of iron, they get stolen or get spoiled soon. But there is no other use of plastic tree guards, and they are very durable. They also look more beautiful. So,these are of multipurpose use.”
The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation is actually the first urban local body in Uttar Pradesh which is earning money by reselling recyclable dry waste. It has two garbage factories running,where the plastic waste is separated by segregating it.
“For this, we have hired vendors. They keep rag pickers under them, who transport waste from everywhere in the city to them. These vendors provide us one ton of plastic every month. The remaining plastic is sold. We earn about 22 lakh rupees every month from this sale,” Dr Kumar revealed.
