Plastic water bottles used to build compound wall

Subrahmanya Gram Panchayat has come out with a plan to reuse plastic water bottles to construct a compound wall for its solid waste management unit at Injadi.

Around 5,000 one-litre plastic bottles are being used to construct a compound wall that is 20-metre-long and four-foot high. The Panchayat collects around 500 kg plastic waste a month, Muthappa, panchayat development officer of Subrahmanya told DH.

The Kukke Subrahmanya Temple is a prominent pilgrim venue in the state, situated within the Gram Panchayat jurisdiction. A large number of pilgrims visit the temple during holidays and on special occasions, he added.

“Waste management is a challenge for the Panchayat. Of the collected plastic waste, we send plastic bags, cups and plates for recycling. The water bottles, however, are segregated. The staff at the waste management unit fill the bottles with sand, soil, gravel and ash, collected from the inert waste burning unit,” the officer explained.

Speaking on the process of constructing a compound wall, Muthappa said, “Using cement mixture, the bottles are filled with sand, ash and gravel and placed like a brick for the construction. After every metre, stones or bricks are placed like a pillar for strengthening the wall. With the help of an expert mason, the workers of the solid waste management unit are constructing the wall.”

He added that engineers have inspected the technical details and the quality of work.

Garbage collection

The waste management unit gets 5 to 10 tonnes of garbage daily, depending on the number of visitors to the temple. On an average, 500 plastic bottles are collected daily.

“The wet waste collected is prepared to manufacture manure and sold in the name of Kukkeshri. The remaining plastic waste, which cannot be recycled, are burnt in the inert waste burning units installed to prevent dumping of waste along the highways, on the roadside and in landfill sites. There are talks with cement company to use the ash collected from the inert burning unit for the preparation of hollow bricks,” said Muthappa.

“I had seen a video of plastic bottles being used to construct toilets in a foreign country. Motivated by the video, I too decided to use the collected plastic bottles constructively. After getting approval from the Zilla Panchayat authorities, the Gram Panchayat members, it was decided to reuse the plastic bottles,” said the PDO.

The work on the compound wall is likely to be completed within two to three days.