Garbage Management
We had resident meeting on Sunday and clarified all queries related to waste segregation. We have started waste segregation process from Monday Jul 14.
Cluster supervisors have distributed the waste segregation kit in most of the apartments but in case you have not received this kit, please contact your Cluster Supervisors (For Zephyr – Contact Sandesh) or raise a complaint in ApnaComplex under housekeeping category and it will be delivered to your apartment.
We request all of you, to segregate the waste at source and put in respective bins / bag and keep them at your doorsteps (not at stairs) before 9:30 AM every day. You can refer the pamphlet provided as part of the kit (same as attached) that would provide you good understanding about the waste segregation process.
Based on resident meeting and several queries raised by the residents, we have created FAQs that would give you the answer of most of your queries. You can also check the video link as part of FAQs that can help you to make newspaper liner for the bins.
From Wednesday Jul 16th onward, your waste would not be collected if it has not been segregated. Also if you are keeping the waste in common area or near stairs, it will not be picked up by housekeeping staffs.
Furthermore, if any house maid / helper carrying plastic bags with waste without segregation is found, his / her id card would be suspended for a week. Cluster Supervisors and security staff will keep a close eye for this.
We received the call from BBMP Health inspector there are chances that BBMP inspector including their staff visits our campus. They will check the garbage bins from each block / cluster and if waste segregation process is not in place, they can put heavy penalty to our society (it could be Rs. 100 per day per apartment, so it would be 1.3 Lacs for one day for our society).
Looking for your support and co-operation to make this process successful.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the bins and bags for?
Green bin: Compostable waste -Please be extremely careful with this bin. If there is any plastic or material that cannot be composted in this bin, this waste will be dumped into the reject waste by the vendor.
White Bag: Dry waste bag -Recyclable waste.
Red bin – Reject / Sanitary waste
PLEASE READ THE COMPREHENSIVE PAMPHLET provided to you with segregation kit.
2. Can I use my own bins?
No. The bins provided are colour coded to help housekeeping staffs to identify the type of waste / garbage.
3. Will my garbage bins smell because I cannot line my bins with a plastic cover?
Several communities (ex: Springfield Apts, Ozone, RaviKiran Apts, Adarsh Palm etc.) have already eliminated plastic bags and there have been no problems. So, we shouldn't have problems either since garbage is picked up every day from your doorstep.
Here’s a video of how to make your own newspaper liner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWcMlIsXWdo
4. Can I line my dry waste bag with plastic bags to prevent it from getting dirty?
No. We are trying to reduce plastics, so buying more plastic bags to line your dry waste bag will defeat the whole purpose.
Tip: You could put the dry waste in a bin that you already have for drying. Have your maid
transfer it to the bag before keeping it out.
5. What if I don't segregate since I don't care about the environment and I don't have kids?
Do it for your neighbors’ kids, do it for yourself and also you will have to pay a fine if you don't comply.
6. Why didn't we get pedal bins?
Because pedal bins break easily when handled by housekeeping staff.
Tip: These small bins can very easily fit into your existing large pedal bins.
7. I want to line my bin with plastic since it'll get dirty. I'll reuse the plastic bag.
Absolutely not, we are trying to get rid of plastic bags. The whole purpose is defeated if you start lining your bins with plastic bags. You can line with single sheet of paper, Housekeeping staff will do a quick sweep of your bin with that paper after emptying it so the bin won't sit out dirty.
8. Can I line my bins with biodegradable plastic bags?
No. There are a lot of plastic bags out there that claim they are biodegradable. However, these may take a really long time (some 50 years) to degrade. Even if you do find ones that degrade in a couple of days, these require special treatment (open air, sunlight etc.). The place where we send our wet waste will not accept any kind of plastic bag. Please throw all plastic bags (biodegradable or not) into the Dry Waste Bag.
You can line your bin with a sheet of news paper. If you want you could keep another sheet on top of your bin for the housekeeping staff to use to clean your bin after collection.
9. How will I line my bins if I don't subscribe to newspaper?
Please borrow from your friends and neighbors.
10. Can I line my bin with a lot of newspaper so it won't get dirty?
The idea is to reduce the waste / garbage. Lining your bin with a lot of sheets will again generate more garbage. Just one sheet of newspaper is enough.
11. Can I throw the parchment paper I use for baking into the green bin?
No. Since we don't really know the coating of the parchment paper you use, please don't put it into the green bin. It may not decompose as required. You can wash it / shake it out and put it in your dry waste bag. If it is heavily soiled and you cannot clean it, put it in the reject bin.
12. My maid didn't do it right.
Please train your maid and show different type of waste in the pamphlet and bins / bag.
13. What is the pick up time?
Pick up time will vary depending on the floor you are staying; Housekeeping staff will start the pickup from top to ground floor. Please keep your garbage at your doorsteps (not on the stairs) before 9:30 AM.
14. Where are the common area bins?
All bins are available in the side road of each cluster. Each bin is having a sticker with the type of
the waste.
15. I see my neighbor are not segregating the waste.
Please feel free to remind them gently :) Please report to your BOBs / Cluster Leader / Director – Housekeeping / Cluster Supervisors if this is repeated.
16. I'm worried about my dry waste bag being stolen since I come home late.
Keep your dry waste bag out over the weekends.
17. What happens when I have a party?
You and your guests will still need to segregate the waste. Try not to use disposable plates / cups and cutlery. Arecanut plates are good since they can be composted if you want to use disposable plates. Please stay away from styrofoam.
18. When some eatables are bought from outside (i.e.) from restaurants, there could be some
wastage of gravies like excess chutney, sambar, etc.. We can't throw the chutney or
sambar in the green bin provided. Can those excess be kept with the same small plastic
bag provided in green bin or in red bin?
You could pour your leftover edible liquids (chutney, sambhar etc) into the drain. Put your strainer in the sink to catch the solids. Throw these solids into the green bins. Rinse your plastics and throw it in the DRY waste bag. Please remember that the contents of the red bin end up in a landfill…try and avoid putting anything in the red bin unless you have to (things you can’t avoid are house dust, hair, sanitary waste, something that is so soiled that it would take way too much water to wash etc).
19. How do we have to handle the carton boxes? (i.e.) carton boxes used for relocations or the ones that comes when you buy a TV, washing machine or any home appliances? Whether such boxes to be crushed and kept outside the door?
Yes, for now, please flatten the boxes if possible and keep it out near your door.
20. How to dispose dogs and other pet's poop?
This needs to be flushed down the toilet if possible (not with paper or plastic). Otherwise, it is Reject waste.
21. How to dispose dead animals?
In the Reject waste.
22. How to dispose cigarette butts?
In the Reject waste.
23. Disposal of raisers / knife / blades (has plastic/metal), would it go in Reject Waste?
Yes. However, please wrap any broken glass or sharps in newspaper and place besides the red
bin.
24. Disposal of earthen pots / diyas?
These would go into the reject waste. These cannot go into the dry waste since they break easily. These cannot go into the wet waste since they take a long time to decompose.
25. Since we are fish/meat eaters, we would like to line our bins with a plastic liner?
Lining the bins with plastic is absolutely not allowed. However, here are a few tips to handle nonveg waste:
- Drain the liquid and throw the cooked (or uncooked) meat leftovers into an extra sheet of newspaper before throwing into your green bin.
26. How to dispose used water filter candles?
Dry waste bag.
27. How to dispose dry PlayDoh?
Reject waste. However, PlayDoh can be re-used by adding water to it or keeping it over steam for a while.
28. How to dispose shredded documents?
Try and put the shredded pieces together in a cardboard box (ex: cereal box, yogurt box etc.) or any other box/bag you are disposing with the dry waste. Reason being, the folks who segregate the dry waste won't be able to gather up the shreds when it's mixed with other dry waste.
Disposal of E-Waste:
The E-Waste bin is located near the basement of each cluster. Here are the rules of disposal for EWaste
(E-Waste is hazardous if not disposed properly):
- Please drop your e-waste in E-waste bins only.
- Please put your bulbs or tube lights in their original packaging or wrap them well in newspaper or cardboard boxes (ex. cereal boxes) before putting in the bins. This is to prevent breakage. CFL bulbs are hazardous when broken.
- Put an electrical tape around any 9 Volt batteries since these are fire hazards. Wrap these in newspaper and drop carefully in the E-waste bin.
- Please wrap your batteries in the newspaper and drop it in the e-waste bin carefully. This is to prevent leaking batteries contaminating the rest of the bin.
- All other small e-waste items (wires, mobile phones etc) can be dropped in the bin carefully as is.
- Please hold onto the bigger e-waste items (computer monitors, TVs, DVD players etc). When we have the e-waste drive, we will let you know in advance when and where you can dispose these.
Disposal of Unused / Expired Medicines:
- Please do not dispose expired or unused medicines in the regular garbage bins.
- We will have quarterly drives to pick up your unused/expired medicines. Please look out for instructions then.
WASTE SEGREGATION IS MANDATORY
NON-COMPLIANCE WILL RESULT IN FINES
Our success will depend only when this process is been followed by all the residents.