Type of waste	Current system	Ideal system
Batteries	Thrown in general stream of waste. Extremely harmful to the environment	To be disposed of as part of E-waste stream to authorized E-waste collection agents
Glass	Broken glass is thrown in general stream. This is very hazardous to waste-pickers who sort through waste. Bottles and other forms of glass are sorted and recycled by waste-pickers	Broken glass should be disposed of in an identifiable bag
Sanitary Pads	Thrown in general stream of waste. Are hazardous to waste-pickers to have to handle them	Should be disposed of in an identifiable bag. SWaCH manufactures an S.T dispo bag for the safe and hygienic disposal of Sanitary pads.
Household Medical waste	Thrown in general stream of waste	The municipality should have a separate collection system for medical waste
Electrical and Electronic waste (E-Waste)	Currently disposed of through a flourishing grey marker. Some parts are reused as second hand There is no system for items that do not have a value in the market, they get disposed in the general stream of waste which is extremely hazardous to the environment	E-Waste should be disposed through authorized collection agents who will ensure that it is recycled/ disposed in a scientific manner. In Pune, SWaCH has been authorized by the PMC to collect E-waste.
Paper	Wastepickers sort paper into several categories and recycle it	Waste should be segregated (into wet and dry) to ensure good quality of paper for better recycling
Plastic	There is several categories of plastic which are collected and sorted by waste-pickers. Low-grade plastics are not getting recycled in the market and hence is not being collected by waste-pickers	Manufacturing companies (of low-grade plastic) have to be made accountable for their products Consumption of products packaged in such plastic should be discouraged
Metal/Rusted metal	Sorted by waste-pickers and recycled	–
Cloth waste	Cloth in good condition is reused, cotton bits of cloths (rags) are sorted by waste-pickers and sold to garages etc	–
Rubber	Recycled	–

Wastepickers collect and sort waste in the following categories :

Paper, Corrugated board (pushta), milk bags, metal, tin, kadak ( IM plastic – PET bottles etc), Fuga ( BM plastic – parachute oil bottles, shampoo bottles etc), cables, shoes, glass ( beer bottles, quarter bottles, other glass).  Low-grade scrap like wafer packets, biscuit packets, thermacole, etc – are not recycled.

V Collect is a service offered by SWaCH to help citizens dispose of any unwanted household articles which are generally not thrown in daily waste. Articles such as old clothes, footwear, electronic and electrical waste, old furniture, newspapers can all be disposed of through a V Collect drive.

Contact SWaCH on +91-9765999500/ [email protected] or visit swachcoop.com for additional details.