BMC seeks bids from international firms for waste segregation app

MUMBAI: Soon, Mumbaiites can log on to a mobile application to get their dry waste collected, processed and dumped. As part of its grand plan to streamline the collection and processing of 800 to 1,000 tonnes of dry waste generated daily, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recently written to the consulates of seven countries for inviting Expression Of Interest (EOI).

Private entities from any of these countries — United States of America, Germany, Finland, France, Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom — will have to develop an app and a website to promote dry-waste segregation, and where citizens can approach them to collect waste.

The civic body has also earmarked six locations — Colaba, Bandra, Kandivli, Malvani, Ghatkopar and Deonar — which will be given to the selected firm for setting up a processing unit. The civic body aims to send minimal waste to dumping grounds and stop the dumping in landfills like Deonar that are anticipated to soon run out of space. One of the conditions of the EOI states that of the total waste processed, only three per cent residue should be dumped in the landfills. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of A ward and solid waste management, said, “The selected firm will have to set up a material recovery facility, a machine that will segregate and process dry waste, at the decided locations. The unit needs to have a processing capacity of 100-250 metric tonnes (MT) a day.” The city generates 7,200MT of waste on a daily basis, of which nearly 11% is estimated to be dry waste.