Zero Waste Day on Mondays

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to observe Zero Waste Day every Monday, a release issued by the civic body on Sunday stated

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to observe Zero Waste Day every Monday, a release issued by the civic body on Sunday stated.MCG officials familiar with the matter said that the idea behind the move is to inculcate the habit of waste segregation among residents.

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On a Zero Waste Day, the MCG only lifts wet garbage from households while dry or mixed waste is lifted the following day.

“Zero Waste Day is proving to be an important step to make citizens understand the importance of waste management. All citizens are being made aware of the segregation of waste into four primary categories, wet waste in a green dustbin, dry waste in a blue dustbin, sanitary and medical waste in a yellow dustbin and electronic waste in a grey dustbin. Only wet waste is picked on a zero-waste day, and we have decided to make it a permanent weekly feature,” said Dheeraj Kumar, joint commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), MCG.

MCG held its first Zero Waste Day on December 25 last year. Initially, it was scheduled to be held on a monthly basis, but due to a positive response, the MCG decided to make it a fortnightly feature. Ahead of its 10th Zero Waste Day, the MCG decided to make it a weekly feature.

“When one tonne of waste reaches a landfill, it produces 2.93 tonnes of greenhouse gases for a lifetime. Zero waste is a concept in which waste is responsibly managed in such a way that zero or minimal amount of waste reaches the landfill. This can be done when citizens analyse their waste, focus on reducing, reusing or recycling dry waste and segregate wet waste for converting them into compost,” said Kumar.

The MCG, so far, has collected around 1,400 tonnes of wet waste in the nine zero-waste days conducted. All wet waste collected from residents is sent to the MCG’s fertilizer plant in Darbaripur.

Kumar said that the plant has a capacity of processing 10 tonnes of wet waste per day and the MCG is in the process of installing more composting plants. He added that the MCG is also considering observing zero-waste days on a bi-weekly basis for increased waste segregation among citizens and eventually, stop sending garbage to the Bandhwari landfill.