Sippy’s big adventure: A plastic bottle’s journey from trash to treasure

In an age where everything is just a click away and readily available, the writers of Briefly In-Depth decided to take up a story that probably no one thinks about and provide an in-depth insight into how it works. Waste management, yes a topic known to everyone, is important, but people's understanding often stops at using different kinds of dustbins to discard waste. According to BBMP, approximately 58.5% of the city's waste generation is from households, 49.7% from commercial establishments, and 6.8% from street sweeping. The per capita waste generation from regular households in the city is 309g, while in slums, it is 300g.

This raises the question: What happens to our waste after it has been collected? To find out, we start from the beginning, from the discard process to its collection, segregation, and what ultimately happens to the waste. The main character of this story is Sippy, a plastic bottle, and we will trace her life after she is discarded.

Credits: Ishika S

Sippy is a water bottle that was bought at a university in Bangalore. After her use, she was discarded in a dustbin. The dustbin is then collected by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). According to the statistics and data provided by BBMP on their official website, the Bangalore population is divided into 8 zones, 27 divisions, and 198 wards. So, the waste is first collected from different parts of the city daily. After Sippy is collected from the university dustbins, she is segregated into different categories.

Waste is divided into dry waste and wet waste, which is further categorised into recyclable waste, organic waste, hazardous waste, and non-recyclable waste. Since Sippy is a plastic bottle, she joins the recyclable dry waste category.

Credits: Ishika S

The collection of dry waste happens twice or thrice a week, after which it is processed and turned into new products. "Material Recovery facilities for sorting and baling of dry waste and from there it is sent to authorised recycling units or dry waste collected by auto tippers is directly sent to authorised recycling units to be turned into raw materials for producing new products," according to the BBMP waste management site. As per a BBMP report, for the collection of waste from large vegetable and fruit markets, vendors are directed to store the waste in until Pourakarmikas collect it and it is ensured that the market waste is transported to compost plants. To process wet waste, 5-ton capacity bio–methanization plants are proposed to be set up in multiple locations, of which some have been made functional. The biogas generated from these plants is being used to power streetlights.  

According to the report on the overview of solid waste management by BBMP, daily waste collection services are provided to households, slums, shops and establishments across the city. About 80 % of the collection and transportation activities are reported to have been outsourced. Auto tipper / Autos and pushcarts are used for the primary collection.

Credits: Ishika S

An auto tipper has been provided for every 1000 households and a pushcart for every 200 households. About 19000 pourakarmikas (both BBMP and contractors) aid in door-to-door collection, street sweeping, and transportation of municipal solid waste (MSW). Self-help groups and residential welfare associations are also involved in door-to-door collection, segregation & decentralised composting in some of the areas. The report also mentions that Bangalore is a bin-less city and the bins/ litter bins are placed only in the commercial areas. “The MSW collected from door to door is brought to a common point from where the waste is transferred to the disposal sites through compactors & tipper lorries. About 670 MSW vehicles including approximately 240 compactors, & 430 tipper lorries, dumper placers & mechanical sweepers both BBMP and contractors are used for transportation of MSW to the processing and landfill sites” the report said. 

Credits: Ishika S

As per the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, municipal bodies are responsible for the processing of waste and only rejects are to be sent to landfills. For the processing of recyclable waste, the Karnataka government encourages private parties to promote waste management in the city by encouraging people to segregate waste. The government also undertakes various projects to process plastics, as the use of it in the city has been rising, necessitating the development of various projects and management centres to process non-biodegradable waste. Once the waste is processed and turned into raw materials for new products, it is then sent to self-help groups to be transformed into new items. 

Sippy will now go through an intense process before she is given a new life. After her collection, she is cleaned of any dirt, adhesive, and product labels, then shredded into tiny pieces. These tiny pieces of Sippy are melted and poured into a mould. The moulded products are then made into something new. So, Sippy is now likely part of various other new products such as clothing, food trays, bottle caps, carrier bags, and more.

Credits: Ishika S