Auroville waste initiative diverts 80 per cent of rubbish from landfills
An 11-member team manages waste for the international township through a system of sorting and recycling.
An 11-member team in Auroville is diverting nearly 80 per cent of collected waste from landfills by sorting it, according to a Times of India report. The initiative, known as EcoService, manages waste for the 20-square-kilometre international township spread across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The service began in 1992 with two people using a cycle rickshaw. It has since grown to a team, mostly consisting of women known as the Ammas, who collect and sort between 500 and 600 kg of waste every day.
The facility handles waste from approximately 10,000 people, including visitors. Monthly, the team processes between 12 and 14 tonnes of waste, with nine to 11 tonnes being diverted from landfills while less than 20 per cent is sent for disposal.
Residents are encouraged to separate waste into six to 13 categories at the household level. At the EcoService facility, the team performs secondary segregation into as many as 82 categories to ensure materials reach the correct recycling dealers.
While most items are recycled or reused, multilayer plastic packaging and thermocol are more difficult to process. Multilayer plastic is sent to cement or sugar factories to be used as fuel to reduce landfill volumes.
Households and establishments pay a nominal fee based on the weight and type of waste provided. Those who perform segregation at the source receive lower charges, and the team promotes home composting for organic waste.