Tips for Proper Waste Management in Apartments

The city development authorities in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi are making it mandatory for large apartments to install solid waste management. The success and failure of waste management lies in the hands of one and all residents in that apartment complex. Installing solid waste management plants in apartment in not an alien concept, it takes 1% of built-up area and 1.5% of investment.

Tips for Proper waste management in Apartments

1. It is important to educate and create awareness to residents, garbage collectors and garbage contractors on proper waste management.
2. The segregation of waste helps to save money, time and energy. You can segregate waste into dry wastes such as paper, cardboard, glass etc and wet wastes such as kitchen waste, dry leaves etc.
3. Buy goods with little or no packaging or packaging that can be recycled.
4. Train the newly appointed housemaid on how to segregate waste into dry and wet wastes.
5. Re-use strong plastic carrier bags instead of buying them, or use more permanent cloth bags for groceries.
6. Recycle as much of your refuse as possible. Items such as glass bottles, tin cans, paper, plastic, vegetable matter and car oil can be recycled.
7. Make compost from vegetable matter (kitchen waste) and garden waste (e.g. leaves/grass cuttings). Compost improves the soil structure and provides extra nutrients for garden plants.
8. Repair an item instead of replacing it, or if you no longer want it, give it to a person who does.
9. Monitoring waste in your flat or apartment. Monitoring is identifying the waste management needs, identifying recycling opportunities and ways to minimize waste output, and reviewing how waste minimization is progressing.
10. Try putting up different trash cans with labels as to the kind of trash that should be thrown into them. Separating them and classifying them into their proper categories would surely help on waste disposal. Educate garbage collectors and garbage contractors on need and importance of separating them.
11. For effective control of solid waste 3 R’s – Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle. Reduce waste means try to avoid generating of wastes. Re-use is using of material again and again. Recycle is the processing used material into new one to reduce consumption of fresh material and prevent wastage of materials.
12. Residents in apartments can bring the matter in association meeting and conduct an awareness program.
13. Dumping kitchen waste in sink consumes more water and cause a bigger trouble for you and your family.
14. New garbage collector may not be aware of proper segregation of waste. Ensure garbage collectors and garbage contractors know importance of waste segregation.
15. Lack of volunteers or shortage of volunteer is one of the main constraints for its failure. There should be at least one member for one block or apartment complex.