Private waste management firms in Coimbatore call for standardised rates and stricter regulation of bulk waste generators

Private waste management companies in Coimbatore have called for standardisation of rates by the Corporation for collecting, processing, and disposing waste generated by bulk waste generators (BWGs) located in the city.

According to the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rules, BWGs produce over 100 kg of waste and must process wet waste on-site. However, CCMC records show less than 20% of the city’s 600 plus BWGs comply. To address this, Coimbatore and other cities permit BWGs to partner with recognised waste management agencies for disposal of the waste at a fee.

However, unmonitored BWGs that hand over waste to agencies for disposal, ultimately dump in the Vellalore dump yard and city outskirts, because the stakeholders refuse to cover processing and disposal costs. Areas behind the dump yard, managed by an empanelled agency, and spots along the Madukkarai-Eachanari Road are some of the identified spots.

In recent times, open dumping has escalated, with over 2,000 truck loads, totalling 6,000 tonnes of waste, being dumped at the compost plant in a month, according to an operator from an empanelled agency in Vellalore. While there are two Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) within the dumpyard, senior Corporation officials questioned their poor operation in a recent civic body meeting.

Further, BWGs currently pay up to ₹6 per kg for waste disposal, totalling ₹4.2 lakhs a day for 70 tonnes of waste. However, the processors incur over ₹7 per kg in costs, which the civic body ends up covering. “This is just the minimum waste collected,” another operator said.

Between December 2023 and March 2024, a Coimbatore food chain and a private mall were fined for illegal waste dumping at Vellalore dump yard. Since 2022, several BWGs have protested waste disposal charges, expressing their unwillingness to pay for waste disposal.

In 2023, Kochi Corporation set a minimum fee for Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) to pay to empanelled agencies, streamlining biowaste management. P. Kaushik, a Coimbatore-based industrial waste management contractor, noted, “This is a way to improve cooperation between BWGs and waste management agencies and reduced open dumping instances. Public-private partnership is necessary.”

Private agencies, besides covering waste management costs, run MCCs and MRFs at no expense to the Corporation, resulting in losses. “The Corporation has been monitoring all processes and any issues brought forth by the agencies will be checked,” the CCMC Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran stated in response.

As a solution, the agencies have proposed regular inspection of sanitary waste and non-recyclable waste disposal by BWGs, along with tracking the amount of bulk waste disposed. “An information board should be set up to display how much waste is generated and how much waste is disposed of,” a senior agency member stated.