VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has begun making use of plastic waste being generated in the city to lay roads. The plastic reuse technology is aimed at scoring good marks in the Swachh Sarvekshan Survey to be held from January 17 to 19, 2017.
The VMC has laid 12 black top roads so far in the city by mixing plastic waste in bitumen. To procure the plastic, the civic body is encouraging garbage collection workers to segregate the plastic waste at the source so that it would be easy for use.
According to the VMC officials, more than 1,200 workers in the city, who either collect the garbage from households or clean the roads are earning Rs 150 to Rs 200 per day by selling the plastic they collect from the waste.
Chief medical officer in VMC, Dr. M Gopi Naik said segregation and disposal of plastic waste has become a major problem in the city. "We have motivated the basket collectors and the road cleaning workers to segregate plastic from the garbage and they are free to sell the plastic," he said and added that being an extra source of income, the workers are showing interest in collecting plastic.
Around 10 tonne of plastic waste is being generated everyday, he said.
Apart from the VMC workers, the civic body is also utilising the services of ragpickers to segregate the plastic waste.
Around 150 ragpickers were issued identity cards and they were placed at Excel dumping yard in Ajitsingh Nagar. The VMC is clearing all the garbage from the dumping yards and these ragpickers are segregating all the plastic from the garbage.
The VMC is mixing 8 per cent of shredded plastic in the bitumen. Executive engineer in VMC G. Om Prakash said that mixing of plastic in bitumen will enhance the life of the road by 50 per cent. "More important, we are getting rid of plastic waste which is posing serious environmental problem," he added.
