Mangaluru : Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake has said that the State government will set up a separate corporation under his ministry to ensure scientific disposal of garbage in the ULBs.

Speaking at the ‘CanPlast 2014,’ a technical seminar on plastic waste management solutions, organised by the Canara Plastic Manufacturers and Traders Association here on Monday, he said presently most of the municipalities in the State are disposing the waste in a traditional manner. The Corporation will address the problem by providing a solution for the scientific disposal of waste. It will also look into recycling of waste using modern technology.

Stating that solid waste management is a challenge for the authorities, he said following the direction of the Supreme Court, High Court and Central government, the State government has formulated rules for the segregation of garbage. “Rules alone can not find solution. There is a need to change in mindset of the people on segregation of garbage from source to bring in changes in waste management system.”

Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management in Class 1 Cities in India Member Almitra H Patel said “plastic volumes now exceed the volume of compost produced in the compost plants. Plastics must be removed from compost to prevent damage to the soil porosity. Increasing the micron thickness to 40 has not helped in checking the use of plastic carry bags. Municipal Solid Wastes Rules 2000 directed municipalities to promote recycling and reuse of segregated materials and ensure community participation in segregation. Unfortunately, it is not being followed,” she said.

She said “cities must ensure safe collection, storage, segregation, transportaion, processing an disposal plastic waste. There is a need to set up collection centres for plastic waste involving manufacturers and ensure its channelisation to recyclers.”

She said that all the municipalities should ensure that shops do not provide plastic carry bags free of cost. The plastics are used in asphalting roads.

The City municipal authorities in their by laws must insist that only plastic free kitchen waste will be collected daily and cities should have separate collection days for mixed recyclables.

Reliance Industries GM M V Prasad said that plastics are categorised as fastest growing item in the country. Unfortunately, there is lot of environment impact on this due to lack of awareness on its disposal. “The manufacturers should adhere to the rules and maintain quality while manufacturing products.”

MCC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak said that the MCC in association with Canara Plastic Manufacturers and Traders Association will set up five more plastic and dry waste collection centre in the MCC limits. A centre has already been opened at Kadri Market.