‘Recycle waste, save ₹1,854 crore’

A TISS TEAM SHOWED HOW COSTLY THE CITY’S WASTE ISSUE IS, AND SUGGESTED GIVING CITIZENS INCENTIVES TO RECYCLE WASTE

When you don’t recycle waste, you cost the state Rs1,854 crore a year.

The government spends Rs905 crore a year just to collect waste from Mumbai homes and transport it to a dumping ground .

At the Transform Maharashtra conclave on Monday, students from the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) showed just how costly the city’s waste issue is, and suggested giving citizens incentives to start recycling their waste at the source. The team of five students said incentives could include relaxation of property tax paid by households and restaurants, cheaper electricity bills and bio gas to households based on how much waste they segregate.

Another solution they proposed was a machine that will eat up plastic and glass bottles and cans and dispense cash in return — an idea CM Devendra Fadnavis appreciated. These ‘Reverse Vending Machines’ will accept Pet/glass/cans from users and return cash. To integrate waste pickers, the participants suggested a monetary award for workers who segregate the most waste . The team highlighted that they found policies were based on wrong perceptions: “As opposed to perception, urban areas generate more waste than slums.”

“This is important for many who believe slum-dwellers were the reason for waste management problems,” Fadnavis said.