Evironmentalists criticise BMC’s shoddy planning

MUMBAI: The environmentalists have slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for poor planning over what needs to be done of banned plastic in the city. The civic body should have thought of various measures to dispose off the plastic or recycle it, they said.

Environmentalist Anand Pendharkar said, “If the BMC is now thinking of what needs to be done of banned plastic, it's a sheer case of poor planning. They should have contacted government pollution agencies and other top institutes to tackle this problem. A well-planned programme should be drawn to dispose of plastic since it is used in huge amount.”

Since the state government enforced the plastic ban on March 23, the BMC had decided to install plastic collection bins at major public places in the city. The civic body has collected 137 metric tonnes of banned plastic from collection bins and dry waste collection centres in two months between April 1 and May 31.

Another environmentalist Rishi Agarwal said that the best option of destroying plastic is to burn it in a cement kiln. “One of the best ways is co-processing, which is stipulated under solid waste management rules. Under this, plastic is burnt in a cement plant under high temperatures. Since plastic is also derived from crude oil, it is disposed of easily in a cement kiln.”

The recycling of plastic can also be done to make other products. But for this, it needs to be segregated  he added.