Increasing populations in the cities have also meant an increase in waste generation. This is more applicable in population-dense areas such as apartment complexes where a large number of families live together. Most of the waste generated is unfortunately being disposed of in improper ways.

Throwing garbage on the roadsides is in vogue; this becomes food for vermin as well as for stray dogs which are a menace. Aside from becoming a public health concern, waste is also polluting the soil, groundwater and the environment as a whole. The people to blame for failure in waste management includes both the authorities, waste collectors as well as the residents themselves.

The root of the issue lies in being more aware and civic-minded, and taking responsibility for the waste generated. While waste is the problem, waste management is its solution. For this, waste should be recycled in a cost-effective and environment-friendly way. This includes segregating the waste, transporting it to the right facilities, processing, recycling and disposing of the non-recyclable waste.

Waste management begins from home. It needs to be segregated into wet, dry and e-waste. Here’s a look at how this works:

Wet waste

This refers to biodegradable waste which is usually generated in the kitchen. Apartment complexes can have a common recycling set-up where wet waste can be composted and later used to enrich the garden soil.

Dry waste

These are non-organic or non-biodegradable materials that can range from plastic, glass, ceramic, rubber, rexine, thermocol, paper, cartons, cloth, etc. They can be further segregated into glass/ceramic, metal waste/cans, paper/carton, and plastic/rubber/rexine/thermocol. Ensure that the glass and metal waste are kept in transparent bags

E-waste

This type of waste cannot be easily disposed off by laymen but needs to be taken care of by specialised people. E-waste or electronic waste can range from old batteries, defunct phones, wires, all electrical gadgets, CFL/LED bulbs, tube lights, etc.

The apartment’s waste management plays a big role in ensuring that the garbage generated by it’s residents gets disposed off in a responsible way. Apartment dwellers should be encouraged to practice responsible segregation of waste. Bins can be provided where residents can dump their segregated waste for collection, making waste management easier in apartments.