Concerns raised over bulk waste management in Coimbatore

Concerns raised over Coimbatore's bulk waste management by empanelled agencies, lacking proper processing and monitoring, leading to environmental hazards.

Concerns have been raised over the functioning of empanelled agencies responsible for bulk waste management in Coimbatore city.

The eight agencies tasked with collecting and processing waste from bulk waste generators reportedly do not ensure proper processing of the waste.

Bulk waste generators include large residential complexes, hotels, marriage halls, and institutions that produce over 100 kg of waste per day or occupy an area exceeding 5,000 square metres.

Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, such entities are required to segregate their waste into wet, dry, and hazardous categories and ensure its proper disposal. Wet waste, for instance, should ideally be composted or sent to micro composting centres (MCCs), while dry waste must be processed at material recovery facilities (MRFs).

However, in Coimbatore city, there appears to be no effective monitoring of how bulk waste is managed or processed. While wet waste is partially processed at MCCs, the MRFs, which are essential for recycling dry waste, are reportedly not functioning as intended.

An official from the Coimbatore Corporation, who preferred anonymity, stated that all MRFs established by the Corporation and used by the empanelled agencies were ordered to shut down operations after a fire broke out at the MRF in Kavundampalayam on November 20, 2024, to prevent further fire accidents. There are approximately 800 bulk waste generators in the city, but the eight empanelled agencies that collect bulk waste currently lack operational MRFs to process the collected waste.

Social activist K.S. Mohan alleged that dry waste is being dumped on empty lands, abandoned quarries, or sent to the Vellalore dump yard. “Recently, we seized a Corporation garbage truck transporting dry waste to the dump yard from a private dry waste godown near the L&T Bypass, where an empanelled agency had stored waste collected from bulk waste generators. We have also seen Corporation trucks directly collecting waste from restaurants,” he claimed.