Mumbai News: BMC To Launch Dedicated Sanitary Waste Collection Service From May 1; Registrations Now Open

The BMC is set to roll out its "Domestic Sanitary and Special Care Waste Collection" service from May 1, for safe and efficient collection of Domestic Hazardous Waste (DHW). However, to raise awareness among citizens and ensure their active participation, the civic body has initiated the registration process for this service from Tuesday. Housing societies, residential complexes, beauty parlours, women’s hostels, and educational institutions can register and make use of this dedicated service. 

Currently, Mumbai generates approximately 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, of which nearly 70 to 80 tonnes is sanitary waste related to personal hygiene. This includes used sanitary napkins, diapers, tampons, condoms, and other hygiene products, as well as waste like soiled cotton, bandages contaminated with bodily fluids expired medicines, syringes, needles, razor blades, and waste generated by beauty parlours such as waxing strips and PPE materials.

"Despite being highly hazardous, this type of waste is often neglected and disposed of along with regular household waste. This improper disposal poses serious health risks to sanitation workers and makes waste processing more complex and unsafe. Recognising the need for safe handling of such waste, we have structured and hygienic collection system dedicated to DHW," said Kiran Dighavkar, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Solid Waste Management).

Starting May 1, 2025, the BMC is rolling out a dedicated sanitary waste collection service. Before that to build awareness and encourage active community participation, the civic body has started registration process from April 22. The registered establishments in Mumbai are being sent a QR code via WhatsApp and other communication channels. Scanning the QR code will also allow users to complete the registration process quickly and conveniently, said an official. 

To tackle DHW, the BMC procured advanced plasma treatment units from Malaysia, with the first three units commissioned in 2021 at Oshiwara, Malad, and Dharavi. Each unit has a processing capacity of four tonnes per day. However, due to poor segregation of waste at the source, these plants have been operating below capacity—collectively processing only 12 tonnes of DHW daily. Recently BMC invited tenders for the operation and maintenance of 11 additional plasma-based DHW processing units across the city and its suburbs.

Link for registration

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6zR8XHoOzXRNanCCdj4oKtS27Iu7vuaXBANiCGoKCfUCn5g/viewform

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