| Type of waste | Current system | Ideal system |
| Batteries | Thrown in general stream of waste. Extremely harmful to the environment | To be disposed of as part of E-waste stream to authorized E-waste collection agents |
| Glass | Broken glass is thrown in general stream. This is very hazardous to waste-pickers who sort through waste. Bottles and other forms of glass are sorted and recycled by waste-pickers | Broken glass should be disposed of in an identifiable bag |
| Sanitary Pads | Thrown in general stream of waste. Are hazardous to waste-pickers to have to handle them | Should be disposed of in an identifiable bag. SWaCH manufactures an S.T dispo bag for the safe and hygienic disposal of Sanitary pads. |
| Household Medical waste | Thrown in general stream of waste | The municipality should have a separate collection system for medical waste |
| Electrical and Electronic waste (E-Waste) | Currently disposed of through a flourishing grey marker. Some parts are reused as second hand There is no system for items that do not have a value in the market, they get disposed in the general stream of waste which is extremely hazardous to the environment | E-Waste should be disposed through authorized collection agents who will ensure that it is recycled/ disposed in a scientific manner. In Pune, SWaCH has been authorized by the PMC to collect E-waste. |
| Paper | Wastepickers sort paper into several categories and recycle it | Waste should be segregated (into wet and dry) to ensure good quality of paper for better recycling |
| Plastic | There is several categories of plastic which are collected and sorted by waste-pickers. Low-grade plastics are not getting recycled in the market and hence is not being collected by waste-pickers |
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| Metal/Rusted metal | Sorted by waste-pickers and recycled | – |
| Cloth waste | Cloth in good condition is reused, cotton bits of cloths (rags) are sorted by waste-pickers and sold to garages etc | – |
| Rubber | Recycled | – |
Wastepickers collect and sort waste in the following categories :
Paper, Corrugated board (pushta), milk bags, metal, tin, kadak ( IM plastic – PET bottles etc), Fuga ( BM plastic – parachute oil bottles, shampoo bottles etc), cables, shoes, glass ( beer bottles, quarter bottles, other glass). Low-grade scrap like wafer packets, biscuit packets, thermacole, etc – are not recycled.
V Collect is a service offered by SWaCH to help citizens dispose of any unwanted household articles which are generally not thrown in daily waste. Articles such as old clothes, footwear, electronic and electrical waste, old furniture, newspapers can all be disposed of through a V Collect drive.
Contact SWaCH on +91-9765999500/ [email protected] or visit swachcoop.com for additional details.
