The upgraded dry waste collection centre (DWCC) at Marappanapalya was opened on Friday.
The 15-year-old centre now has a conveyor belt, a bailing machine, toilets and paved floors. In December 2016, SweepSmart, a waste management social enterprise from the Netherlands, and Hasiru Dala, a membership-based organisation of waste pickers and informal waste workers, collaborated for upgrading the centre with help from the BBMP and Eco Echo.
“The latest technology will increase the efficiency in sorting and managing dry waste,” Sadashivaiah, a former informal waste collector who now runs the DWCC, said.
The DWCC, earlier known as ‘Kartavya’, has been renamed to ‘Kartavya Pragati’. Nalini Shekhar, the co-founder of Hasiru Dala, said the work to upgrade the centre was launched three months ago.
Marappanapalya corporator, Mahadev M, hoped that dry waste collection centres in other wards would remodelled on similar lines.
Leonie van der Stijl, Second Secretary, Economic Affairs, the Netherlands, Meenakshi P R, Deputy Representative, the Netherlands Business Support Office, Chennai, and others were present on the occasion.
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