One bin won’t work
First off, let’s see what happens if we throw all the waste into one bin: kitchen waste that includes liquids like curd and sambar, stale and spoiled food; plastic, paper, rubber, fabric, cosmetic containers and tubes, sanitary napkins, diapers, needles, syringes, condoms, hair and nail clippings; e-waste like bulbs and batteries, metal waste, construction debris and all other hazardous waste laden with harmful chemicals.
Here’s a question to segregation sceptics or denialists: How will you segregate this waste and send it to respective destinations? Even if you did so, what about all the contamination that will render the wet waste useless; in fact, hazardous?
Unfortunately, this is what has been happening and the only destination this mixed and heavily contaminated waste is being sent to is landfills. Some amount of contaminated wet waste is separated from this lot using power-driven tumblers and ‘composted’. Just think of its impact on the soil and the food that grows on it?
WHY NOT THIS?
Two bins won’t work
Unfortunately, in many places, collection of waste happens in two bins: one for all biodegradable wet waste and another for all other including sanitary/bio-medical waste.
While it’s a notch above the one-bin trick, what’s unacceptable is the way all recyclable dry waste (plastic, paper, glass, e-waste, metal, fabric, rubber, glass, etc) is dumped along with contaminated sanitary/bio-medical waste. It’s a double whammy: It renders recyclable items un-recyclable and causes harm to the pourakarmikas and housekeepers. I have seen how our housekeepers suffer whenever people throw sanitary napkins and diapers into dry waste bin. Bringing in humanistic approach to how we dispose our waste is as important as yearning for clean surroundings.
Only the power of 3 bins works
From two bins, move on to three bins and put sanitary-biomedical waste into the third. No contamination and no loss of resources. Compost the wet waste, recycle the dry waste and send the hazardous waste for incineration. Efficient, isn’t it?
There are people who use more than three bins. It’s praiseworthy but unnecessary. Dry waste, if it’s clean, is easy to separate into various categories. Moreover, anything above three bins can be a hassle. It will tire people out and may force them back to one-bin trick. Three is sufficient.
Here’s the bottom line: When we are out to do something, we could as well do it right.