An easy to grasp manual to establish waste segregation at home. Distills the waste segregation down to 5 important categories so that the requirement is easily understandable to all.

1. Waste Segregation for Dummies
Welcome to the world of Segregated Waste
www.ragpicker.in
Updated : 22-Mar-2015

2. Contents
- why segregate
- waste categories
- where to start
- do’s & don’ts

3. What do you change?
From this…
Garbage dumped off Hosur Road , Bangalore
A typical unscientific landfill around here…
Waste dump in your neighborhood
300 cows die every year in Bangalore alone eating plastic laden waste
Pic courtesy: epaper.timesofindia.com

4. What do you change?
Pic courtesy: epaper.timesofindia.com
Segregation of waste at source made mandatory: The High Court has handed down a highly
progressive judgment taking into careful consideration both short-term and long-term objectives
to resolve the prevailing crisis of waste management. In an unprecedented decision, the Court
has directed that all municipal waste in Bangalore will be segregated at source (at the household
level), the segregated waste will be transported in that manner to composting and recycling units
and no mixing whatsoever will take place in trucks, as is presently the case. Keeping this
fundamental principle in view, the Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike
(BBMP, Bangalore's municipality) and the Government of Karnataka to ensure that “Segregation
and Wet Waste Processing Stations shall be located and made operational in the 28 Assembly
Constituencies within two months” from the date of the order. The Court sees “this as the first
step to be followed immediately by similar Segregation and Wet Waste Processing Stations, in
each of the 198 Wards in Bangalore” and that “this exercise (is) to be completed within four
months” of 22nd November 2012. Keen to ensure that at no time in the future the current messy
state of affairs recurs in Bangalore, the Court has also directed that “every ward should have at
least three Segregation and Wet Waste Processing Stations”. (Emphasis supplied)
Joint Statement supporting Segregation of Waste at Source by NGO’s in Bangalore
http://www.esgindia.org/campaigns/press/landfills-arent-solution-bangalores-wast.html

5. What is in it for You!
For RWA/Community
• Eco-friendly image of RWA/Community generates respect among peers
• Reduced expense for disposal of solid waste
• Income generation through sale of recyclables
• Greater residents participation in RWA affairs
For Individual homes
• Better management of household waste
• Eco-friendly image generates respect among peers
• Practical education of children on topics such as materials, recycling, decomposition
• Greater participation in RWA affairs
For Community & Society
• Better management of household waste
• Increased recycling of plastics, paper etc
• Hazardous waste kept out of landfill
• Employment generation in recycling industry
5

6. What do you change?
…to This
recyclingdry waste recycling/safe disposalhazardous & e-waste
wet waste
composting
sanitary waste incineration
biogas

7. Wet Waste Sanitary Waste
Debris/Inert
Dry Waste
Hazardous/ e-waste
Waste Categories

8. Waste Categories

9. Where to start?
Establish collection at home
Debris/Inert
Collect in a bin in
the utility
RED BIN*
PERIODIC
Hazardous/ e-waste
Collect small items
in a cover. Do no
break CFL/Tubes
QUARTERLY
9
* Green Bin (Wet Waste) & Red Bin (Sanitary & Debris) in the 2 Bins1Bag method
Wet Waste
Collect in a covered bin
lined with newspaper. DO
NOT USE PLASTIC BAGS.
GREEN BIN*
DAILY
Sanitary Waste
Collect in newspaper bag
kept in bathroom
RED BIN*
DAILY
Dry Waste
Collect in a woven bag in
the kitchen/utility
WEEKLY

10.  Vegetable/Fruit waste
 Food waste except very oily waste
 Tea leaves/Coffee powder
 Garden trimmings/leaves
 Flowers
 Pencil shavings
 Match Sticks
 Shredded Newspaper
 Soiled Tissue Paper
10
What is Wet Waste?

11. x Soiled food covers
x Sanitary Waste such as napkins and diapers
x Cigarette butts
x Watery stuff (drain away the liquid from sambhar/curry before disposing it for composting)
x Bits of plastic (cut pieces from your milk covers can harm biogas/composting process)
x Dead animals (rats, cockroaches etc.)
x Weeds and diseased plants from the garden
11
What is NOT Wet Waste
Take-way container
with yoghurt
Watery Sambhar
/Rasam/Curries. Drain
liquid before disposal
Coconut Shells
(collect separately . Can be
used as fuel)

12. Wet Waste Collection
Collection: Covered bin in Kitchen lined with newspaper. Tear newspaper lengthwise to get 2 long
pieces. Place them into the bin to cover the bin inner surface. NO PLASTIC BAGS!
12
* Collect Wet Waste in Green Bin in the 2 Bins 1Bag method

13. 13
Wet Waste Do’s
1
Leftover Sambhar? Strain using a steel strainer to
drain the liquid into the sink
Dispose food contents into
Wet Waste bin

14. Home Composting Options
14
http://www.dailydump.org/products/leave-it-pots
Daily Dump: Leave-it-Pot or Khamba
Did you know: A firm in Bangalore has an order from Japan to export 2500
tonnes of compost to enrich the coastal areas devastated by 2011 tsunami.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=1&contentid=201201192012011905082181299adafb5
More :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_of
_compost
- As a Fertilizer
- As a Soil Conditioner
- For Soil erosion control
Use Compost …Smart Bin: Home Composting
For more such products & solutions visit www.ragpicker.in

15. Community Composting Examples
http://vennarorganic.com/index.htmlhttp://www.dailydump.org/community-waste-management-final
Daily Dump - Aaga
15 Kgs per day
0 HP
low cost and low
maintenance
10 to 170 Kgs
2.5 to 16HP
Purchase Cost (4 lacs
upwards) , Space and
Maintenance needs to be
considered
Vennar - OWC
15
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Tumbling-Composter
For more such products & solutions visit www.ragpicker.in

16. Biogas Examples
http://www.niecrest.in/
Biogas plants from
1-150 kgs. per day
for homes,
communities and
institutions
NIE-CREST
16
GPS –Bio-Orja
Biogas plants from
100 kgs – 3 Tons.
per day for
communities and
institutions
http://www.greenpowersystems.co.in/#!the-biourja1
For more such products & solutions visit www.ragpicker.in

17. 17
What is Sanitary Waste?
 Diapers
 Sanitary Napkins
 Condoms
 Syringes
 Shaving Blades
 Ear Buds
 Old Tablets
 Bandages/Plasters
 Fingernails
 Hair/Animal Hair
 Scrap cloth
 Animal bones (large)

18. 18
Sanitary Waste Do’s
 Collect in a newspaper cone or bag or red bin*
 Wash out poop from diapers into the toilet
before disposing baby diapers
 Reusable cloth diapers for your baby at least at home
Did you know: Disposable diapers take 500 long years to decompose
Reusable diapers guide: http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/guide/
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/wash/index.php
* Collect Sanitary Waste in Red Bin in the 2 Bins 1Bag method

19. 19
What is Dry Waste?
 Plastic bags
 Plastic bottles
 Plastic packaging
 Broken toys
 Bubble wrap
 Take-away containers*
 Food packets*
 Pickle packs*
 Milk Sachets*
* Food packets, pickle packs and take-away
food containers have to be thoroughly
rinsed and dried before disposal
* Food covers that are too oily should be
discarded with debris waste
Plastics
 Tickets
 Bills & statements*
 Envelopes & Covers
 Notices
 Pamphlets
 Paper wrappers
 Computer Printouts
 Paper plates
Papers that are oily and soiled tissue
papers should be discarded with debris
waste
* Tear any confidential papers such as bank
statements/notices before disposal.
Newspapers can be collected on a monthly
basis and donated to NGOs who make bags
for sanitary waste.
Paper
 Aerosol cans
 Aluminum cans/foil
 Metal bottle caps
 Glass bottles & Jars
 Incandescent Bulbs,
 Tetrapack
 Thermocole/Styrofoam
WARNING: Do not crush aerosol cans
Rinse and dry glass bottles before disposal
Dispose broken glass/ceramic with debris waste
after placing in a thick plastic/paper bag
Metal, Glass & Others

20. x Wet waste (yuck! ruins the waste carefully segregated by others)
x Sweeping dust, wood waste etc. (dispose with debris waste or with wet waste)
x Human/Animal hair (it’s of course dry but sadly not recyclable, dispose with sanitary waste)
x Soiled food covers/containers (rinse and dry them before disposing with dry waste)
x Sanitary Waste such as napkins and diapers (dispose used/unused diapers etc. with sanitary waste)
x Cigarette butts
20
What is NOT Dry Waste
Do not dispose take away
containers with food.
Dispose food in Wet Waste bin, rinse and
dry the container/cover and before
disposing with dry waste
Do not dispose Human or pet-
hair with dry waste. Dispose
these in Sanitary Waste
Do not dispose ear buds,
waxing strips etc with Dry
Waste. These should go with
Sanitary Waste.

21. 21
Dry Waste Do’s
Food in a cover?
Dispose food contents
into Wet Waste bin
Rinse cover if food contents were wet. Dry at
kitchen sink before disposing in your Dry
Waste bag
1

22. 22
Dry Waste Do’s
Squeeze your toothpaste
facewash etc to the last before
disposal. Use an old
toothbrush for this …saves at
least a week’s worth of stuff
2 3
Empty and rinse out
remnants in shampoo
or moisturizer bottles.
4
Open up and crush/fold paper
cartons before disposal.
Saves a load of space
5
Dilute soap and hand
wash concentrates with
up to 2/3rds water. It’ll
still be effective

23. Dry Waste Collection
Collection: Fix a bin on the
cupboard door of your sink. Use
this to collect your Dry Waste
23
* Do not use thin polythene bags to store Dry Waste at your home
Plastic woven bags or cloth bags are sturdy and reusable
Collection: Collect Dry Waste
in bag* hung in your kitchen or
utility area.
Collection: Rinse and dry milk
covers. Collect in a box to
dispose monthly to your local
scrap dealer

24. Dry Waste Sorting@ Home
24
Once a week sort dry waste collected in your bag into
Plastic, Paper, Metal & Others. Dispose to common dry
waste collection
Best Practice: RWA to provide residents
with woven plastic bags labeled with house
no and sorting categories as per
requirement .
Please check with your Dry Waste collector
on categories of sorting required.
Apartments having adequate space and
labor can have a post collection sorting
established.

25. What is Haz/E-Waste?
25
E-WasteHazardous Waste
 Paints
 Automobile Lubricants
 Dry Cells (Batteries)
 Car /2-wheeler batteries
 Fluorescent Lamps
 Mobile
 Chargers
 Computer peripherals
 CDs
 …anything with a plug

26. Haz/E-Waste Do’s
26
 Collect small items such as batteries in a cover
 Do no break CFL’s and Tube lights (Fluorescent lamps)
 Maintenance personnel should use industrial grade gloves while
handling haz/e-waste

27. What is Debris Waste?
27
 Sweeping Dust
 Oily Plastic/paper
 Soiled Scrap Cloth
 Rubber waste (slippers)
 Gilt Paper/Gift Wrapping
 Foil covers (lays/kurkure packs)
 Construction debris
* Dispose Debris Waste along with Sanitary Waste daily in Red Bin in the 2 Bins 1Bag method

28. Recyclanthem
28
Cans and bottles, don’t throw it away,
Paper, plastic don’t throw it away,
Recycle and Recycle,
Let’s all try and recycle.
We’re on a mission to save the world,
Doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl,
Don’t put it off and don’t hesitate,
Because tomorrow …. may be too late.

29. Happy Segregation,
Composting
and Recycling!
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